WASHINGTON – As President Bush mulls what to do after winning re-election, voters say his first priority should be resolving the situation in Iraq, where the fighting is growing more intense.
They also want Bush to cut the deficit, which ballooned under his watch, rather than pushing for more tax cuts, according to an Associated Press poll taken right after the election.
About 27 percent of respondents named Iraq as the top priority for the president’s second term, ahead of issues such as terrorism, the economy and health care.
Only 2 percent named taxes as a priority. By more than a 2-1 margin, voters said they preferred that the president balance the budget rather than reduce taxes further.
After a campaign dominated by discussion of Iraq and terrorism, national security issues are at the top of voters’ concerns along with the economy. Voters were asked to pick from a list of issues in the AP poll that included Iraq, terrorism, the economy, unemployment, health care, education and taxes.
Many voters on Election Day indicated they were also concerned about “moral values” – a broader concern than specific issues such as health care and education.
Republicans ranked terrorism first on the list, followed by Iraq and the economy as priorities for Bush. Democrats were most likely to name Iraq, followed by the economy and health care while independents picked Iraq and then terrorism, according to the poll conducted for the Associated Press by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
Seven in 10 voters, including a majority of Democrats, would prefer that U.S. troops stay in Iraq until the country is stable, instead of having them leave immediately.
Given the choice between balancing the budget and cutting taxes, voters chose balancing the budget by 66 percent to 31 percent. Just over half of Republicans as well as most Democrats and independents felt that way.
When the choice is between balancing the budget and spending more on education, health care and economic development, voters were divided. Slightly more wanted the additional domestic spending, 55 percent, than chose balancing the budget, 44 percent.
The AP-Ipsos poll of 844 registered voters was taken Nov. 3-5 and has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points.
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