Even as Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is visiting the Middle East and Europe this week in order to gain some on-the-ground foreign relations experience and talk about his plans for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number one concern of American voters is here at home: the economy.
"The economy is the nation's top concern by far, but anxiety about energy has grown more since spring than any other issue while the focus on Iraq continues to fade, according to a poll released Wednesday," according to the Associated Press. The AP-Ipsos poll found that " economic woes—including job losses, rising inflation and the ailing financial and housing markets—are dominating voters' worries as this fall's presidential election approaches."
Energy costs continue to rise, shifting voter interest toward domesic affairs
Issues abroad have taken a back seat to those at home, as millions of Americans have shifted their focus to making ends meet. "The Iraq war and other foreign affairs issues were named by just 15 percent in the poll," according to the AP. "Iraq was cited by 25 percent in April and 40 percent in January, illustrating how rapidly the war has plummeted from its long-held perch as the No. 1 problem."
The AP-Ipsos poll, comprised of telephone interviews of 500 people, was conducted from July 10 to 14 and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. The poll was released Wednesday.
The economy is the country's most important problem, 44 percent of respondents said, according to the AP. That number is up from the 39 percent who said the economy was the most important issue in April.
For Obama, the fact that the economy is at the forefront of voter's concerns is potentially good news. According to an AP-Yahoo News poll conducted in June, voters think that Obama is more capable than McCain of handling the economy.
"Adjusted for inflation, median household income dropped by $1,175 between 2000 and 2007, said Elizabeth Warren, professor at Harvard Law School, in written testimony before the Joint Economic Committee," according to CNN Money. "At the same time, the average family is spending $4,655 more on basic expenses, such as gas, housing, food and health insurance."
The number of respondents who cited energy problems, including rising gasoline costs, was at 22 percent. That was up quite a bit from the 4 percent who responded as such in April 2007.
"Gas alone costs $2,195 more for a family making the same commute in May 2008 as it did eight years earlier," according to CNN Money.
Even though gas prices have fallen slightly for the last six days running, they are still up near their record high. The national average for regular unleaded gas dropped from $4.055 per gallon Tuesday to $4.042 per gallon Wednesday, according to AAA. The record per-gallon price of $4.114 was reached about a week ago.
"Across the country, gas prices have risen an average of about 36 percent over the past year," according to the Phoenix Business Journal.
"The ways that I'm dealing with our current economy are by driving less—resisting the urge to drive everywhere, including trips down to Seattle to visit friends or to get my favorite cup of coffee—buying food in bulk and cutting back on vacations this year," Nari Lee, a 25-year-old facilities project administrator from Lynnwood, Wash., said. "Cutting back on everything and being less spontaneous has been the theme. It's quite a challenge. You don't realize how much you used to take for granted until you finally realize that a buck doesn't take you very far anymore."
Perhaps the only silver lining to come out of the crunch that many people have found themselves in as a result of higher gas prices: "The federal government reported in April that miles traveled fell 1.8 percent in April compared with a year earlier, continuing a trend that began in November," according to the AP. Not only is this better for the environment, but it is in part responsible for the national decrease in motor vehicle related deaths. Such deaths have decreased by 9 percent compared to last year, according to the National Safety Council.
