Republicans and Democrats can’t even agree on what they believe is the biggest issue facing the nation.
When asked in the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll which issue should be the top priority for the federal government to address, Republican primary voters’ leading response was national security and terrorism (27% said it was their first choice).
That’s followed by the deficit and government spending (24%), job creation and economic growth (21%) and religious and moral values (12%).
By comparison, the top priority for Democrats in the poll was job creation and economic growth (37%) — followed by health care (17%), climate change (15%) and national security and terrorism (13%).
Among all Americans, the ranking was job creation/economic growth (29%), national security/terrorism (21%) and deficit/government spending (17%).
The economy dropping to the No. 3 concern among Republican primary voters is a striking departure from March 2012, when it ranked No. 1 (at 36%) — followed by the deficit/government spending (at 35%) and national security/terrorism (at just 8%).
The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted of 1,000 adults from April 26-30, and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.1 percentage points.









