McCain Leads On Defense/Homeland Security, Foreign Policy, Obama Leads On Healthcare, Most Domestic Issues, Economy

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 01 Oct 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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A new Harris Poll measures the public's perceptions of which candidate would do better in handling sixteen different policy issues. It finds that John McCain has a sizable lead on defense, homeland security and keeping the U.S. safe from terrorism, and modest leads on Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East, Iran, Russia and gun control. Barack Obama has a substantial lead on the environment, education, health care and jobs. He also has a clear but not large advantage on the economy, gasoline prices, energy policy and inflation.

However, this Harris Poll also shows that most people recognize that they do not have a very good understanding of the differences between the candidates' policies on the sixteen issues covered in this poll.

These are the results of a Harris Poll of 2,315 adults who were surveyed online between September 15 and 22, 2008. The most interesting findings of this new poll include:

-- More adults believe John McCain would be the better of the two main candidates in handling defense, homeland security and keeping the U.S. safe from terrorism (he leads by 18 points), Afghanistan (+9), the Middle East (+8), Russia (+8), Iran (+7), gun control (+5) and Iraq (+5).

-- Barack Obama is seen as the better of the two candidates on handling the environment (+22), education (+19), healthcare (+16), jobs and employment (+12), the economy (+10), gas prices (+8), energy policy (+7), and inflation (+5).

-- Neither candidate has a significant advantage on trade or taxes.

-- Only between 23 percent and 36 percent of the public say they understand "very well" the different policy proposals of the two.

So What?

People make their choices and cast their votes for many reasons both conscious and unconscious. Many voters think their decisions are based on the candidates' positions on the issues when they are not; it is a way of rationalizing their preferences. Furthermore, as this poll shows, most people have only a vague sense of the policies that candidates propose.

Nevertheless, it is clearly true that some issues do influence voter choices - whether or not they are well informed - and that many people have strong feelings that one candidate would handle an issue better or worse than the other candidate.

In this presidential election John McCain should do better when the media headlines and the election debates focus on his strengths, defense, Iraq, the war on terror and foreign policy, while Barack Obama should make gains when the news is mostly about the economy and domestic issues.

Methodology

This Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States between September 15 and 22, 2008 among 2,315 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. Full data tables and methodology for this study can be found at http://www.harrisinteractive.com

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com.