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Military and Foreign Policy Issues Fade Among Public's Priorities

Military and Foreign Policy Issues Fade Among Public's Priorities

by David W. Moore

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, majorities of Americans cited each of four issue areas -- terrorism, military and defense, the economy, and foreign affairs -- as "extremely" important for the president and Congress to address. But according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, only terrorism is still mentioned by a majority of Americans as extremely important, while the percentages of people citing the other issues have dropped significantly. Other than terrorism, the most frequently cited issue areas now include education, and Social Security and Medicare, along with the economy and military/defense.

 

How important is it to you that the president and Congress deal with each of the following issues in the next year -- is it -- extremely important, very important, moderately important, or not that important? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

 


(sorted by "extremely important")

Jan 11-14, 2002

Oct 5-6,
2001

Jan 10-14, 2001

%

%

%

Terrorism

62

70

N/A

Education

46

46

61^

The economy

44

54

34

The Social Security and Medicare systems

43

42

37

Military and defense issues

42

57

26

Prescription drugs for older Americans

37

37

49^

Foreign affairs

34

52

17

Taxes

30

N/A

31

Immigration

30

N/A

17

The federal budget deficit

30

N/A

N/A

A patient's bill of rights

29

30

40^

Energy policies

25

N/A

26

An economic stimulus plan

25

N/A

N/A

N/A --Not Asked

^ June 8-10, 2001



The issues of foreign affairs and military/defense both surged in the public's priority list after the Sept.11 attacks. Only 26% of Americans had said that military and defense issues were extremely important in January 2001, but in a poll conducted Oct. 5-6, that percentage more than doubled to 57%. Foreign affairs jumped by an even greater margin, from 17% of Americans citing that issue before the attacks (also in January 2001) to 52% afterward.

These high priority levels have begun to fade, however, just months after Sept. 11. Thirty-four percent of Americans now mention foreign affairs as extremely important, still double the pre-Sept. 11 figures, but down by 18 percentage points since October. Similarly, 42% of Americans cite military and defense issues as extremely important in the latest poll, also higher than before the terrorist attacks, but down 15 percentage points since October.

The priority of the economy as an issue has also declined since October, as the public's expectations for the future have improved. A year ago, 34% cited the economy as extremely important, but by the fall that number had increased to 54% -- while the public's evaluation of the economy dropped significantly. Now, 44% of Americans say the economy is extremely important -- a drop of 10 percentage points -- at the same time that Americans are now more likely to see the economy as getting better than getting worse, for the first time in over a year.

In the meantime, the issue of education has maintained its importance in the public's view since October, mentioned as extremely important both then and now by 46% of Americans. Still, those percentages are considerably lower than the 61% figure measured in a Gallup poll before the terrorist attacks. Social Security and Medicare have also maintained their importance since October, with 43% of Americans mentioning that issue area as extremely important today, compared with 42% last fall and 37% a year ago.

Republicans More Likely to Be Seen as Better Able to Deal With Important Issues

The Republican Party is seen as better able than the Democratic Party to deal with the majority of a list of issues mentioned in the poll, but other questions suggest that the GOP advantage may be related more to President Bush personally than to his party. As shown in the table below, 61% of Americans see the Republican Party as better able to handle the issue of terrorism, while just 23% say that about the Democratic Party. The Democrats enjoy a substantial advantage on the issue of Social Security and Medicare, as well as prescription drugs for older Americans, but the GOP is the clear winner on military and defense issues, and foreign affairs.

 

Do you think the Republican Party or the Democratic Party would do a better job of dealing with each of the following issues and problems? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

(sorted by overall % extremely important)

2002 Jan 11-14

Republican Party

Democratic Party

Republican
Advantage

%

%

%

Terrorism

61

23

+38

Education

42

46

-4

The economy

47

41

+6

The Social Security and Medicare systems

36

53

-17

Military and defense issues

65

24

+41

Prescription drugs for older Americans

32

56

-24

Foreign affairs

56

30

+26

Taxes

52

40

+12

Immigration

50

33

+17

The federal budget deficit

47

41

+6

A patient's bill of rights

32

54

-22

Energy policies

41

44

-3

An economic stimulus plan

47

38

+9

+ indicates a Republican advantage
- indicates a Democratic advantage



Overall, the Republican Party gets higher marks on eight of the issues tested, the Democratic Party on five. The margins for the Republicans are also higher than the margins for the Democrats, suggesting that the Republican Party has a clear edge in the public's perceptions.

This conclusion seems to be reinforced by the respective parties' favorability ratings. Overall, 61% of Americans rate the Republicans favorably and 30% unfavorably, compared with a 55% to 33% ratio for the Democrats. These numbers represent little change for the Democrats from a poll conducted immediately prior to the terrorist attacks, but a substantial improvement for the Republican Party.

Next, we'd like to get your overall opinion of some people in the news. As I read each name, please say if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of this person -- or if you have never heard of him. How about –?

The Republican Party

 

 


Favorable


Unfavorable

Never
heard of

No
opinion

         

2002 Jan 11-14

61%

30

*

9

         

2001 Sep 7-10

47%

48

*

5



The Democratic Party

 

 


Favorable


Unfavorable

Never
heard of

No
opinion

         

2002 Jan 11-14

55%

33

*

12

         

2001 Sep 7-10

56%

38

*

6

 

* less than 0.5%



A different question, however, suggests that much of the GOP advantage in its image is related primarily to President Bush rather than to the members of Congress. As shown below, when asked specifically which party would be better for the country in controlling Congress, the public is evenly divided. The public is also split on which party should have the greater influence over the direction the country takes in the next year. At the same time, the public clearly prefers that Bush, rather than the Democrats in Congress, influence the direction the country takes in the next year.

Do you think the country would be better off if the Republicans controlled Congress, or if the Democrats controlled Congress?

[BASED ON -- 481 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM B; ±5 PCT. PTS.]

 

 


Republicans


Democrats

NEITHER (vol.)

SAME
(vol.)

No
opinion

 

%

%

%

%

%

2002 Jan 11-14

44

43

3

3

7

           

2001 Oct 5-6

38

37

11

7

7

2001 Aug 3-5

34

43

10

6

7

2001 Apr 20-22

41

43

6

3

7

2001 Jan 5-7

39

41

7

5

8



(vol.) Volunteered response

Who do you want to have more influence over the direction the nation takes in the next year -- [ROTATED: the Republicans in Congress (or) the Democrats in Congress]?

[BASED ON -- 481 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM B; ±5 PCT. PTS.]

 

 

Republicans
in Congress

Democrats
in Congress

BOTH/
NEITHER (vol.)

No
opinion

         

2002 Jan 11-14

47%

44

5

4

         

2001 Jul 10-11

41%

44

9

6

2001 Jun 8-10

39%

47

8

6



(vol.) Volunteered response

Who do you want to have more influence over the direction the nation takes in the next year – [ROTATED: George W. Bush (or) The Democrats in Congress]?

[BASED ON -- 527 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM A; ±5 PCT. PTS.]

 

 


Bush

Democrats in Congress

BOTH/
NEITHER (vol.)

No
opinion

         

2002 Jan 11-14

59%

36

2

3

         

2001 Jul 10-11

50%

38

9

3

2001 Jun 8-10

48%

41

6

5

2001 Feb 9-11

48%

41

8

3



(vol.) Volunteered response

Survey Methods

The current results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,008 adults, 18 years and older, conducted January 11-14, 2002. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/5200/military-foreign-policy-issues-fade-among-publics-priorities.aspx
Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A
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