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Barack Obama and John McCain may be sparring over several different issues-Iran, Iraq, health care, immigration-in their fight for the White House, but, at least in swing states Ohio and Florida, one issue trumps them all: the economy.
An NPR poll conducted with the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard's School of Public Health shows (.pdf) more than 50 percent of respondents in both states say their pocketbooks will be the most important issue guiding their votes in November. When pollsters combined respondents' first and second most pressing concerns, the economy showed up 70 percent of the time.
This could bode well for Obama and his fellow party members, especially in Ohio, where some counties face unemployment rates of more than eight percent. "It does help the Democrats," says Johnnie Maier, chairman of the Democratic party in Stark County, Ohio, which historically has acted as bellwether county in presidential elections. "When George W. Bush took office, we had a budget surplus. We didn't have a housing crisis. Now we're replacing what used to be living-wage jobs with part-time jobs at places like Wal-Mart-a major Chinese importer. It's beyond a mess."
Full Story and Video: http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/07/9024_npr-ohio-florida-economy-poll.html