TRUMP’S JOB IS TO STAY FOCUSED ON THE ECONOMY. If you want to see why President Donald Trump is visiting Pennsylvania to talk about affordability, and why he is planning rallies on the topic around the country in the coming weeks, just look at the simple question asked in the new Harvard CAPS Harris poll: “What would you say are the most important issues facing the country today?”
The question was open-ended, and respondents could name more than one issue. The top concern, named by 36% of those surveyed, was price increases, inflation, and affordability. The No. 2 issue, named by 29%, was the economy and jobs. Put them together, and economic issues were by far the most important issue named by the voters in the poll.
After that came a number of issues that rank high on the importance scale, but not as high as the economy: healthcare, immigration, corruption, crime and drugs, federal budget deficits, terrorism and national security, taxes, guns, and a few more.
Those are the major concerns. At the bottom of the list, that is, those issues named by fewer than 5% of respondents, were: foreign policy at 4%; political correctness and cancel culture at 4%; the Israel-Hamas-Iran conflict at 4%; defense at 3%; policing at 3%; Jan. 6, 2021, at 3%; antisemitism at 2%; and other, miscellaneous topics.
It is, of course, the world’s least surprising news that the economy and affordability are at the top of voters’ concerns. The reason Trump is traveling to Pennsylvania and beyond to talk about affordability is that we are entering an election year, and a significant number of voters, including some Trump supporters, believe the president has spent too much time paying attention to topics at the bottom of the voters’ list, namely foreign policy, and not enough time on the topic at the top of the list.
By Byron York
