Why Do Candidates Focus on Minor Concerns and Voters Concentrate on Major Issues?
Donald Lambro
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Posted: Aug 26, 2016 12:01 AM
Voters Focus on Crucial Issues Even Though Candidates
WASHINGTON -- The chief problems in our country that voters worry about most are jobs, the economy, health care and government mismanagement.
When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency last year, the first problem he raised and made his dominant issue was illegal immigrants from Mexico. But that wasn't a major public concern at the time -- not even close, according to the Gallup Poll -- and it still isn't.
Gallup regularly polls the issues that are among voters' greatest concerns, and soon after the real estate tycoon pushed immigration into the forefront of the news media's attention on June 16, 2015, Frank Newport, the polling firm's editor-in-chief, wrote an analysis that said this:
"For one thing, we know that immigration is not seen as the top problem facing the nation today by most Americans, but it is perceived as an important issue." Just "seven percent of Americans say immigration is the most important problem facing the country today."
In March, Newport said, "We gave Americans a list of 15 problems and asked how much they personally worry about each. 'Illegal immigration' was ninth on the list, with 39 percent saying they worried about it 'a great deal.'
"That contrasts with the top problems -- health care and the economy -- about which 54 percent and 53 percent, respectively, of the public said they worried about a great deal," he wrote.
Since then, for the most part the Gallup poll has shown that the economy, jobs and government still remain the big issues facing our country, with immigration further down on the list.
If anything, Trump's focus on illegal immigration and his plan to deport an estimated 11 million illegal Hispanics has become a problem for his own campaign. Polls show that he's losing the lion's share of the Hispanic vote, the largest ethnic voting bloc in the U.S. electorate.
And it has become an issue for many American voters who think his proposed mass deportation of millions of Hispanics and their families, who have lived and worked here for 10, 20, 30 years or more, have never committed a crime and contributed to our economy, is a bit extreme.
Apparently Trump and some of his new advisers think so, too, because he has begun signaling that he may be open to "softening" his deportation plan.
The candidate began his presidential bid last year by saying that all illegal immigrants "have to go," and that he would establish a nationwide, police-style "deportation force" to round them up and send them back to their native countries.
But at a town hall gathering on Tuesday hosted by Fox News in Austin, Texas, Trump said he was open to "softening" the immigration laws for illegals who have established roots here and lived law-abiding lives.
"Did he use the word 'soften'"? an incredulous Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a Trump backer, asked reporters who sought his reaction to the candidate's unexpected remark.
But Trump appears to be playing down or avoiding any mention of deportations lately, notably during a rally on the Florida State Fairgrounds on Wednesday. He touched on it only briefly in terms of protecting jobs and focusing only on those who have criminal records.
His new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, may be influencing his shift. When asked Sunday if Trump was going to readjust his position on mass deportations, she coyly replied, "To be determined."
"What he supports is to make sure we enforce the law ... and that we are fair and humane for those who live among us in this country," Conway said.
Trump told Fox News that he was "not flip-flopping" on the issue, but added, "We want to come up with a really fair but firm answer."
What brought about the change in tone? The answer can be found in half a dozen major, head-to-head polls on the Real Clear Politics website, showing Hillary Clinton leading Trump by margins of 5 to 8 percent.
While we wait for Trump and his curious crew to figure out just where they stand on this issue, the voters remain far more focused on what's important to them -- like a spendthrift government drowning in nearly $20 trillion in debt, threatening our country's economic survival as never before.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a new report this week that projects the budget deficit this fiscal year will be close to $600 billion -- one-third higher than last year's deficit.
The CBO projects that the budget deficit will rise to $1.2 trillion by 2026 unless fiscal policies are changed. Among other things, CBO blames the mushrooming deficit on a weakening Obama economy and lower-than-expected tax revenue.
Economic growth has slowed to a crawl in President Obama's last year in office, coming in at little more than 1 percent in the first and second quarters. And the CBO estimates that the economy will grow by just 1.7 percent, at best, over the next two years under present policies.
In his new book, "Full Faith and Credit: The National Debt, Taxes, Spending, and the Bankrupting of America," historian Alan Axelrod paints a gloomy portrait of our country's future.
Calling the mounting debt load "the greatest threat to American security and prosperity" in our history, Axelrod says that the human cost will be measured in "families imperiled, aspirations thwarted, hope of promising futures abandoned."
This is one of the important issues that Americans really worry about -- and that both presidential candidates are ignoring to our peril.
http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Ca...
|
Posted: Aug 26, 2016 12:01 AM
Voters Focus on Crucial Issues Even Though Candidates
WASHINGTON -- The chief problems in our country that voters worry about most are jobs, the economy, health care and government mismanagement.
When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency last year, the first problem he raised and made his dominant issue was illegal immigrants from Mexico. But that wasn't a major public concern at the time -- not even close, according to the Gallup Poll -- and it still isn't.
Gallup regularly polls the issues that are among voters' greatest concerns, and soon after the real estate tycoon pushed immigration into the forefront of the news media's attention on June 16, 2015, Frank Newport, the polling firm's editor-in-chief, wrote an analysis that said this:
"For one thing, we know that immigration is not seen as the top problem facing the nation today by most Americans, but it is perceived as an important issue." Just "seven percent of Americans say immigration is the most important problem facing the country today."
In March, Newport said, "We gave Americans a list of 15 problems and asked how much they personally worry about each. 'Illegal immigration' was ninth on the list, with 39 percent saying they worried about it 'a great deal.'
"That contrasts with the top problems -- health care and the economy -- about which 54 percent and 53 percent, respectively, of the public said they worried about a great deal," he wrote.
Since then, for the most part the Gallup poll has shown that the economy, jobs and government still remain the big issues facing our country, with immigration further down on the list.
If anything, Trump's focus on illegal immigration and his plan to deport an estimated 11 million illegal Hispanics has become a problem for his own campaign. Polls show that he's losing the lion's share of the Hispanic vote, the largest ethnic voting bloc in the U.S. electorate.
And it has become an issue for many American voters who think his proposed mass deportation of millions of Hispanics and their families, who have lived and worked here for 10, 20, 30 years or more, have never committed a crime and contributed to our economy, is a bit extreme.
Apparently Trump and some of his new advisers think so, too, because he has begun signaling that he may be open to "softening" his deportation plan.
The candidate began his presidential bid last year by saying that all illegal immigrants "have to go," and that he would establish a nationwide, police-style "deportation force" to round them up and send them back to their native countries.
But at a town hall gathering on Tuesday hosted by Fox News in Austin, Texas, Trump said he was open to "softening" the immigration laws for illegals who have established roots here and lived law-abiding lives.
"Did he use the word 'soften'"? an incredulous Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a Trump backer, asked reporters who sought his reaction to the candidate's unexpected remark.
But Trump appears to be playing down or avoiding any mention of deportations lately, notably during a rally on the Florida State Fairgrounds on Wednesday. He touched on it only briefly in terms of protecting jobs and focusing only on those who have criminal records.
His new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, may be influencing his shift. When asked Sunday if Trump was going to readjust his position on mass deportations, she coyly replied, "To be determined."
"What he supports is to make sure we enforce the law ... and that we are fair and humane for those who live among us in this country," Conway said.
Trump told Fox News that he was "not flip-flopping" on the issue, but added, "We want to come up with a really fair but firm answer."
What brought about the change in tone? The answer can be found in half a dozen major, head-to-head polls on the Real Clear Politics website, showing Hillary Clinton leading Trump by margins of 5 to 8 percent.
While we wait for Trump and his curious crew to figure out just where they stand on this issue, the voters remain far more focused on what's important to them -- like a spendthrift government drowning in nearly $20 trillion in debt, threatening our country's economic survival as never before.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a new report this week that projects the budget deficit this fiscal year will be close to $600 billion -- one-third higher than last year's deficit.
The CBO projects that the budget deficit will rise to $1.2 trillion by 2026 unless fiscal policies are changed. Among other things, CBO blames the mushrooming deficit on a weakening Obama economy and lower-than-expected tax revenue.
Economic growth has slowed to a crawl in President Obama's last year in office, coming in at little more than 1 percent in the first and second quarters. And the CBO estimates that the economy will grow by just 1.7 percent, at best, over the next two years under present policies.
In his new book, "Full Faith and Credit: The National Debt, Taxes, Spending, and the Bankrupting of America," historian Alan Axelrod paints a gloomy portrait of our country's future.
Calling the mounting debt load "the greatest threat to American security and prosperity" in our history, Axelrod says that the human cost will be measured in "families imperiled, aspirations thwarted, hope of promising futures abandoned."
This is one of the important issues that Americans really worry about -- and that both presidential candidates are ignoring to our peril.
http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Ca...
Johnson sees it as a problem but for whatever reason everything about him starts off with marijuana. Is that Johnson or is that the media? To them he is an afterthought of small importance. i score that one as a media problem more than a candidate problem
Trump the Outsider is chugging along learning as he goes and hitting one issue at a time each time improving his position. Judged as an outsider he's still the lottery ticket candidate. buy your ticket take your chances. Detractors short on facts long on hot air. But Trump himself could do more at his appearances but then learning those lessons is something an outsider must do.
He suffers less from the stigma of being a Republican though than does is main opponent. With him you are voting for a man without a party but a platform in progress whereas the the Republican Party in disarray is essentially out of the picture trying to stay alive. They should have thought of that before they joined the left wing.
Hillary stands firmly supported by the Democrats but their Economic Record is something out of a horror show, like other issues such as Morals and Honesty, her tawdry woman's card and the glimpse we got of her racist side and the latest thanks to Trey Gowdy look we got at what appears to be a near criminal conspiracy with the AG and FBI Director - etc etc etc.
Will the real Hillary stand up? No she prefers to not engage in any conversation about her record of .,...not much....with good reason.
Public is now seeing her negative side and that of her party. She can't afford to be in a position for a Swift Boat engagement. Especially when her own economic plan does not address the economic issue but promises to intensify the problem with huge Obama like numbers.
So we are left with
A Candidate with 100% Sure Thing outcome as a Socialist Autocrat with not much more than personal wealth on her mind and a guaranteed flop of an economic program that she won't discuss plus host of negatives.
A Candidate flawed but developing who is still a touch too far to the left but has one quality I like. No businessman capitalist is going to do anything to worsen that overall national picture. So playinig footsie with NY liberals doesn't count for anything with me nor does using the Republicans to get on the ballot. He remains a what you see is what you get possibility IF IF you disregard the left wing media and their well known agenda. Color him as the man said the other day a Lottery Ticket Candidate.
A Candidate now less than 10% seeing a possibility of support from the millinnials now basically tgied with the Boomers as the two biggest blocks at 31% each but with a 50% turn out record and then split about fifty fifty. In my mind his main attraction tot hem is the marijuana initiatives as the next best thing to Bernies free college money pledge. Strong platform but wait for the Libertarian Town Hall broadcast.
And it leaves us as WSJ reported this morning from the Real Clear poll watchers Hillary still with a 6% lead over trump 4% with Johnson and Stein included. Forget the cherry picker polls the averages are the true picture.
It leaves us with two candidates talking the wrong issues and one ducking, bobbing and weaving for fear anything she says will makes things worse. Hey the media is going to write against you anyway so get off the minor stuff and go back to addressing major issues!
And one no one is touching the new third rail What About NDP and the next Recession just over the horizon.
http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Ca...