Poll: Americans mixed on President’s priorities

When presented with five different topics that the President should focus on, Americans still name the economy as the top choice, but it is no longer the front runner by as wide a margin as this time last year

In 2008, the economy took up 64 percent of the respondents, while the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan garnered 11 percent, while health care, the deficit, and energy couldn’t get more than 6 percent. Today, the economy has dropped over 20 points, to 41 percent, while healthcare has jumped from five points to 17, and the situations in the middle east has risen seven points to 18 percent. Only energy has lost even more interest, barely registering at 2 percent. According to Gallup, the bottoming out in the percentage mentioning the economy as Obama's top priority is thanks to Americans' being more optimistic about the nation's economic direction now compared to last November, in part because the financial crisis has eased. The rise in violence, as well as the much publicized problems in Afghanistan the middle east is taking up more attention in Americans’ minds. Much like all polls, some of the respondents’ data can be easily divided between political parties, but on the economy and the middle east, interest know now partisanship. Democrats and Republicans answered with an identical 40 percent saying the economy is the biggest priority. Independents actually find the economy even more important, ranging up to 43 percent. On the middle east, 15 percent of Democrats, 21 percent of Independents, and 18 percent of Republicans feel it should be Obama’s top priority. On health care and the deficit the respondents split noticably. 30 percent of Democrats feel that health care should be the top priority while just 11 percent of Independents and 10 percent of Republicans agree. Conversely, just five percent of Democrats feel the deficit should take top billing, while 15 percent of Independents and 23 percent of Republicans feel the President should focus on that issue. In last year's poll, at least 6 in 10 Republicans, Democrats, and independents named the economy as Obama's top priority; meaning all three groups show at least a 20 point decline on this issue in the current poll. The biggest change in issue importance among party groups is the huge increase of Democrats who view healthcare as the top priority, jumping from 6 points to 30 percent. Also, the percentage of Republicans naming the deficit as the top Obama administration priority has doubled since last year.