Election Day 2018 - What’s most important to us in the midterms
Bottom Line: It's Election Day and from South Florida to Washington D.C. the stakes are extremely high. Who’ll control Congress? In Florida, who will be our next Governor and Attorney General (among many key races in our state)? Record midterm voter enthusiasm that’d been indicated in polling five weeks ago has translated into record early and absentee voting in Florida and beyond. In other words, there’s follow-through to the buildup we’d been seeing in polling. In politics a lot can change in a month. A month ago, these were the top five issues for voters nationally according to the Pew Research Center:
- 76% Supreme Court
- 75% Health care
- 74% Economy
- 69% Gun policy
- 67% Medicare
All told there were 14 issues that are important to more than half of all voters. There’d been a question as to whether the SCOTUS enthusiasm would remain a top issue heading into Election Day once the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh had taken place. There answer is yes, but it’s now the 9th top concern – not first. Overall interest in the SCOTUS has dropped by 12%. Here are the current top five from Gallup:
- 80% Healthcare
- 78% Economy
- 78% Immigration
- 74% Treatment of women
- 72% Gun policy
There are currently 11 issues that are important to most to voters. More important than a month ago are: healthcare, the economy, immigration, women’s issues and gun policy. Less important than a month ago are SCOTUS and Medicare concerns. It’s clear how the news cycle has once again altered our sense of importance. Each of the top five issues has had a catalyst via the news cycle recently. If you’re trying to gauge how these issues play into one’s perspective when voting...
- Democrats have an edge on healthcare, women’s issues and gun policy
- Republicans have an edge on the economy and immigration
Today’s the day we put these issues into practice with our votes. Until tomorrow...