A companion to this weekend's Trust on Issues post (Democrats favored on 9 of 10 issues), this Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll (.pdf) looks at issues that matter to voters.
Iraq remains top issue for public; health care now ranks second overall, including among Republicans
With the first presidential primaries less than three months away, Iraq continues to top the list of issues the public wants the president and Congress to address, with over half naming the war as one of the top two issues in an open-ended question. Health care ranks second, and is the top domestic issue, with roughly three in ten citing it, including 36 percent of self-identified Democrats, 31 percent of independents, and 22 percent of Republicans.
Following health care are concerns about the economy (16 percent) and immigration (12 percent). In a shift from recent polls, the ranking of the top four issues in this month’s tracking survey is the same for Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike. Health care’s rank as the number two issue for Republicans is particularly noteworthy, as it is counter to what has been political conventional wisdom in past years.
Health care has been rising steadily, as can be seen in the graph:
Also of interest is what the public wants from the politicians (and this differs by party).
On a separate question about the scope of plans they would like to hear about, roughly half the public (51 percent) says they want to see the presidential candidates propose a major effort to cover the uninsured, even if it is costly, with a quarter saying they would prefer to see a more limited plan and 15 percent voting to keep the status quo. These results also differ starkly by party. Democrats overwhelmingly want to see a big plan put forward (68 percent), while Republicans are very divided (a third want a big plan, a third want a more limited plan, and 25 percent want to keep things as they are). While not as strongly in favor of a major effort as Democrats, a plurality of independents (47 percent) do support that option.
The SCHIP question has no doubt led to increased concerns about health care, but it remains a potent issue, and one that Democrats do better on than Republicans.
No one is forgetting about Iraq. Health care, otoh, is going to loom large as an issue from now until November. Hillary Clinton (and all the Democrats) do very well here.
The most recent tracking poll suggests that Senator Hillary Clinton has solidified her lead as the candidate most associated with the health care issue. In October, for the first time in our tracking, more than half the public was able to name a candidate who was "placing the biggest emphasis on health care issues," and most who were able to name a candidate – 42 percent overall – name Clinton. Clinton is mentioned by nearly half of Democrats and independents, and more than a third of Republicans. Senator Barack Obama (6 percent) and former Senator John Edwards (3 percent) come next, while no Republican candidate is mentioned by more than one percent of the public.
Those are the facts. The interpretation is up to you. ;-)