A few posts back, I raised the question if this is the year that health insurance will matter in Presidential politics… here’s some data from the most recent Washington Post survey:
34. (ASKED OF LEANED DEMOCRATS) What’s the single most important issue to you in your choice for the Democratic candidate for president?
6/1/07 2/25/07 War in Iraq 29 28 Economy/jobs 18 17 Health care 11 16 Immigration 6 1 Someone I trust 4 2 Strong leadership 3 4 Honesty 3 4 Education 3 2 Terrorism/security 2 3 Environment 2 2 The right experience 1 2 Abortion 1 * Foreign policy 0 2 Electability/best chance to win in November * 1 Other 7 10 No opinion 9 5
And:
41. (ASKED OF LEANED REPUBLICANS) What’s the single most important issue to you in your choice for the Republican candidate for president?
6/1/07 2/25/07 War in Iraq 15 17 Economy/jobs 13 15 Terrorism/security 11 18 Immigration 9 3 Abortion 7 3 Strong leadership 7 4 Honesty 6 6 Someone I trust 6 4 Education 3 3 Health care 3 6 The right experience 1 * Foreign policy 0 2 Morals/family values 0 3 Other 10 11
The answer, looking just at this data, seems to be discouraging. Granted, primary preferences are not the complete picture of how important things are to people… but these primary preferences are pretty low. Also of note, the difference in concern levels on “terrorism/security” and the growth in concern across the board on immigration.
Posted by stevenmaloney 
