WASHINGTON (July 18) - Americans have turned much of their attention over the last three months back to the economy and foreign affairs - including the war in Iraq and terrorism - as the nation's top problems, pushing aside worries about non-economic domestic issues, AP-Ipsos polling found.
People were asked in an open-ended question last week to name the nation's most important problem.
Four in 10 picked foreign affairs - with war being the concern picked most often, followed by terrorism. That's up from 32 percent in April. Nearly three in 10, 28 percent, cited the economy - up from 19 percent in April. Concerns about other domestic issues dropped during that time.
Several months after the 2004 presidential election, people were beginning to shift attention from the issues that dominated the campaign - the economy and foreign affairs. But recent events have forced the two back to the forefront.
''The two of them are interlinked,'' said Richard Davis of Pines Circle, Minn. ''The Bush tax cut and the war in Iraq have caused us to overspend our budget and we're in a huge deficit that's starting to hurt the economy.''
It is all about guns and butter--too many guns and too little butter. Both issues are certainly inter-related--Bush tax cut and Iraq war caused U.S. to overspend and create new budget deficits. Increasing deficits result in increasing interest rates, which can result in businesses cutting back on in investment into new plants and equipment, which can also result in less hiring of American workers. It is interesting to note that consumer confidence has also dropped.
Consumer confidence over the past month slid to a two-year low, according to Ipsos polling in the United States for the Royal Bank of Canada. Economists say terrorism fears rekindled by the London bombings probably played a large role in the decline.
The fade in economic optimism may be related to concerns about terrorism, rising energy prices, worries about inflated home prices that may eventually drop again and anxiety over retirement security.
People often mentioned their worries were related to the war and terrorism.
Tack on this continuing story of the Bush Administration leaks in Valerie Plamegate, and you have a recipe for a disaster. Continued revelations of the Bush leaks will certainly cause more Americans to lose support of the president, and embolden the Congressional Democrats to take stronger opposition stands against Bush's policies. It will be difficult for Bush to push through his proposals for Social Security, energy, or even a Supreme Court justice nominee if the White House becomes even more embroiled with the Valerie Plame leaks. And the White House is becoming more embroiled, with a new press report saying the vice president's chief of staff Lewis Libby was also a source to Time Magazine's Matt Cooper's Plame story. And the Valerie Plame story links back to the Bush White House's justification for going to war in Iraq. The dots are starting to connect to form a new picture of America. The public is starting to see this new picture, and they are worried.
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