Bush Ahead on Key Issues, says Harris

A majority of Americans think the economy and the jobs situation are more important factors than Iraq and the war on terrorism in deciding who they vote for in the Presidential Election, according to the latest Harris Poll. On both issues President Bush is ahead of Kerry in the numbers thinking him likely to do a good job.

Fifty-two per cent said the economy and jobs were a more important issue in choosing a candidate than Iraq, versus 41% saying the reverse. Both Democrats and independents voted more than 3:2 in favour of the economy / jobs as the more important issue, with a plurality of Republicans (50% vs 41%) chosing Iraq and the war on terror.

When asked which of the three candidates - George Bush, John Kerry or Ralph Nader - would best handle these issues, President Bush was preferred over Senator Kerry by 44 to 38% on the economy and jobs, and by a much larger 54 to 29% majority on Iraq and the war on terror.

The picture looks slightly different when voters are asked to say, unprompted, which two issues are most important for the government to address. 39% said 'the war' and a further 5% 'terrorism', compared to 28% who said 'the economy', and 10% who said 'employment' or 'jobs'. By far the biggest change since April, in replies to this question, is the increase - from 20 to 39% - in those choosing 'the war' as one of their two options.

Harris interviewed 991 people aged 18+ by telephone within the US between June 8 and 15, 2004. The company's web site is at www.harrisinteractive.com

NB All responses garnering 10% or more of the vote in any of the last 8 polls are shown - there are many other factors mentioned, some inter-relating with these, and this table should be regarded as a quick summary for interest-only - please consult the Harris site for more detail.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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