Republicans and Democrats Agree: Top Government Priority Is Iraq (64%!)

November 03, 2006
Republicans and Democrats Agree: Top Government Priority Is Iraq
Sixty-four percent of all Americans say Iraq is government's top priority

by Joseph Carroll

PRINCETON, NJ -- Regardless of whether the Democrats take control of Congress or the Republicans keep control on Nov. 7, one thing is clear: Americans want their elected representatives to make the war in Iraq their top priority. In fact, Americans' perceptions that Iraq should be the top priority for the president and Congress have increased substantially this month, with nearly two in three mentioning it as the No. 1 issue. Iraq is the top issue for both Republicans and Democrats, though these political groups differ in other ways on their perceptions of what government should be doing. Terrorism or national security slid back from a high of 20% in September to 12% in the most recent poll. Mentions of fuel prices are also down, and are at their lowest point this year.

Overall Results

The Oct. 23-26 poll asked respondents to name, without prompting, what should be the "one or two … top priorities for the president and Congress to deal with." Nearly two in three Americans (64%) mention the current situation in Iraq. Fewer than one in five identify any other single issue as the government's top priority right now. Trailing Iraq are the general state of the economy (18%), immigration (15%), and healthcare issues (11%).

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Gallup first asked this question in April, and in each poll since that point, the war in Iraq has ranked as the most salient issue from the public's perspective. In April, 29% of Americans said Iraq should be the top priority for the government. By June, this percentage climbed as high as 60%, before dropping back from July to September, when roughly half of Americans said Iraq should be the government's top priority. Now, mentions of Iraq as the top priority have surged to 64%.



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http://www.galluppoll.com/content/Default.aspx?ci=25321&VERSION=p