• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 5, 2004

Terrorism Lead Issue in Presidential Election and Bush the Favored Manager

The July MONEY/ICR poll, reported by Money, has found that among registered voters in the United States, John Kerry and President Bush are in a dead heat at 43% each as of July 25th. On most important issues, though:

• 36% selected the war on terrorism
• 25% weighed in on health care
• 20% favored creation of new jobs
• 9% of Americans chose the federal deficit
• 3% chose the price of gasoline
• 28% of respondents under the age of 35 were more likely to view the creation of new jobs as important when compared to only 16% of those age 35 and over.
• 29% of women and 20% men, and those with a household income under $50,000 were more likely to focus on health care when deciding who to vote for.

Americans with a household income $50,000 or over were more likely to view the war on terrorism (46% vs. 30%) and the federal deficit (12% vs. 6%) as important vs. those with a household income under $50,000.

- 53% of all Republicans will pay most attention to the war on terrorism when deciding who to vote for this fall, more than Democrats (30%) or people who consider themselves Independents (32%).

- One-fifth of the Democrats and 22 % of Independents will focus on the candidates' proposals for the creation of new jobs when deciding their vote, more so than their Republican counterparts (13%).

- When it comes to who would be a better manager of the number one issue - the war on terrorism -significantly more Americans selected George W. Bush over John Kerry (49% vs. 34%)

Source (all data): MONEY/ICR Poll

The poll was conducted with a nationwide sample of 1022 Americans between July 21 - 25, 2004. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. For more information on the methodology please go here.