As you know, the Gallup organization conducts dozens of polls each week in America, and you can subscribe to their work for free on their website. I highly recommend it.
One of Gallup’s polls they conduct in December each year asks US adults to rank 16 issues which concern them the most going into the New Year, ranking them as Extremely Important, Very Important, Somewhat Important or Not Important. Below I will show you the top 12 concerns which ranked highest in importance. With that introduction, let’s jump right in.
A few observations are probably obvious: Healthcare has been at or near the top for a number of years; National Security has been near the top ever since 911; Gun Policy has moved steadily up the ranking in recent years; and Education is always near the top as is The Economy.
What surprises many people is the fact that Climate Change consistently comes in at or near the bottom (55% right column) in these polls year after year, as does Income/Wealth Inequality. Media pundits are always disappointed that Climate Change doesn’t rank higher.
Next, Gallup takes this particular poll a step further by surveying Republicans and Democrats separately as to their top concerns. As you’re about to see, the top concerns among Republicans and Democrats are very different!
While this probably won’t surprise most of my readers, the largest divide between Democrats and Republicans is on the issue of Climate Change at 44% to only 8%. Another sizable divide is on the issues of Healthcare, Gun Control and Education. Income/Wealth Inequality and Race Relations are two more issues that concern considerably more Democrats than Republicans.
On the issues of National Security, The Economy, Immigration, Federal Budget Deficit and taxes, the concerns are fairly evenly split among Dems and the GOP. I find it sad that the Federal Budget Deficit and Taxes rank near the bottom of concerns in the survey.
Gallup notes that concerns about the issues tend to be higher among respondents of the party that does not control the White House, whether that be Democrats or Republicans. For example, Republicans’ concerns were higher than Democrats’ on most issues when President Obama was in office; now it’s the other way around.
Democrat Presidential Hopefuls Have Other Concerns/Priorities
Since I just received these latest Gallup polls on Tuesday, I made a special effort to watch the Democrats’ presidential debate on Tuesday evening. I watched to see how many of the candidates voiced concerns similar to what the American public told Gallup recently, as noted above.
I must admit that I don’t usually watch the Dems’ presidential debates, especially when there were over a dozen of them on the stage. I was a little surprised that the only network which carried the debate on Tuesday night was CNN. In any event here’s what I saw that was notable.
As I watched the debate which included six candidates, I focused on the responses from the top four candidates: Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. All four of these candidates are committed to:
- Significantly increasing federal spending & expanding the size of government
- Reversing the Trump tax cuts and implementing some form of a “wealth tax”
- “Medicare For All” or a single-payer system – even if it bankrupts the country
- Cutting defense spending and most would bring all US troops home ASAP
None of the candidates addressed the issue of how repealing the Trump tax cuts and implementing some form of a “wealth tax” would hurt the economy and job growth. None of the candidates, with the possible exception of Bernie Sanders, addressed specifically how they would pay for some form of “Medicare For All,” which is estimated to cost $30-$40 trillion or more over 10 years.
I think the American people are smarter than the Democrats give them credit for. I don’t think most Americans who are likely to go to the polls in November will vote to wreck the economy. I just hope I’m right!
Gary, I have always enjoyed reading your newsletters, and my sense that although you skew republican/right wing/conservative (I am an independent)I have felt you try to be thoughtful and balanced. Then I see your list of “ALL (my caps for emphasis) four of these candidates are committed to” and start to think that you are not as forthcoming or try to be as balanced as I thought. #1 – several of the Dem candidates including 2 on your list, have commented that spending/deficits need to be reigned in; #2 ONLY Warren has proposed a “wealth tax” and several of the others (eg Buttigieg)have argued strenuously against it (personally, I think it would be a silly, counter-productive policy to implement) #3 ONLY Warren and Sanders of the 4 you note support “Medicare for All” – the others support a private system with a public option. #4. Have not heard Biden as an example say he wants to cut defense spending and several of these candidates (like TRUMP) want to reduce troop levels in the Middle East and Afghanistan(Sanders a clear exception), they agree that a base level, especially Special Forces troops are required…and I have never heard or read that most of these 4 want to reduce levels elsewhere in the world. Your following paragraphs lead me to think that through this newsletter you are shilling for the Republicans which brings into question the credibility of other things you have written over the years…maybe I have to fact check more (or look elsewhere for thoughtful analysis)