The annual Associated Press-NORC poll on the public's priorities is out and, as usual, the people want the economy to be the top focus of government in 2024.
The poll asked respondents to provide up to five issues they believe should top the federal government's agenda in 2024. Three out of four respondents chose the economy as one of the five issues the government should concentrate on in 2024.
However, the poll found concerns about immigration and foreign affairs to be rising. Twice as many respondents named foreign policy as one of the top five concerns in December compared to 2022. Just 27% of respondents thought immigration was important in 2022 compared to 35% this year.
The partisan divide was especially noticeable in foreign policy.
With ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, foreign policy has risen to prominence as a major concern compared to previous years. And after several near misses of a government shutdown in 2023, the debt limit and government spending has become a major priority for 2024.
Democrats and Republicans cite immigration, other foreign policy issues, and inflation as a top priority, but their top issues diverge from there. Democrats are concerned about climate change and the environment, education, and health care reform, while Republicans put the economy in general and government debt in their top five.
While the public has a wide-ranging agenda for the federal government, they are not confident that it will be able to address these concerns. Seventy-one percent have little confidence in the ability of the federal government to make progress on important issues facing the country in 2024, including 40% who are not confident at all.
The emphasis the public wants the government to give to foreign policy isn't surprising. What might raise a few eyebrows is that only 34% of Democrats think that foreign policy should be one of the government's main concerns, up from 16% a year ago, while 46% of Republicans think so, up from 23% last year.
Considering what party is in the White House right now with a president sending $100 billion in arms to Israel and Ukraine to fight off aggressors, it's almost as if Democrats want to forget about foreign policy.
And when it comes to immigration, there's a definite lapse in memory.
Overall, the poll found that concerns about immigration climbed to 35% from 27% last year. Most Republicans, 55%, say the government needs to focus on immigration in 2024, while 22% of Democrats listed immigration as a priority. That’s up from 45% and 14%, respectively, compared with December 2022.
Janet Brewer has lived all her life in San Diego, across from Tijuana, Mexico, and said the situation on the border has deteriorated in recent years.
“It’s a disaster,” said Brewer, 69, who works part time after running a secretarial and legal and medical transcription small business. “It’s crazy.”
The poll shows the American people are a lot smarter than politicians and pundits. They aren't going to be snowed about what's vitally important. Just 21% of the country named climate change as a top priority of government, including fewer than 40% of Democrats. This is despite the Biden administration spending half a trillion dollars on it.
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