Senior Citizens Want Government Focus on Iraq and Immigration

June 5, 2006 – As President Bush guides the Congress to turn their attention this week to a possible constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, senior citizens strongly want the focus to be on the war in Iraq and immigration. These are top issues for all American adults in a new Gallup Panel Poll but senior citizens put immigration next in line behind the war, while young adults place immigration behind fuel prices.

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The emphasis on immigration by senior citizens is striking – seniors are significantly more interested in this issue than other age groups. Just as shocking was the lack of interest in fuel prices, where seniors were much less interested than others.

After Iraq, the public feels that the government should focus on fuel and oil prices, immigration policy, the general state of the economy, and healthcare issues. Over the past month, Americans have become much more likely to say that the war in Iraq and fuel prices should be the top priority, with fuel prices surpassing immigration this month. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say immigration should be the government's top priority, while Democrats are more inclined to mention Iraq, the economy, and healthcare.

Half of Senior Citizens Mention Iraq as Top Priority

The poll also finds differences between age groups, with fuel prices a higher priority for those under age 65, and Iraq and immigration a higher priority for senior citizens.

Overall, Iraq is the government's top priority for Americans in all age groups, but senior citizens more frequently mention the war in Iraq. In fact, half of those aged 65 and older mention the war in Iraq, compared with only about 4 in 10 adults who are younger.

Older Americans are also more likely to say immigration should be the top governmental priority. Thirty-two percent of those aged 65 and older say immigration should be the top priority, compared with 17% of 18- to 34-year-olds, 25% of adults aged 35 to 49, and 22% of adults aged 50 to 64.

Top Priorities by Age, May 22-24, 2006
	18-34	35-49	50-64	65 and older	All
	%	%	%	%	%
Situation in Iraq/war	40	40	43	50	42
Immigration/illegal aliens	17	25	22	32	29
Lack of energy sources; the energy crisis; fuel/oil prices	30	30	33	17	23
Economy in general	17	13	15	10	14
Poor healthcare/ hospitals; high cost of healthcare	6	13	11	8	12

On the other hand, older Americans are less concerned about fuel prices -- just 17% of those aged 65 and older believe the government should focus its attention on this issue, compared with at least 30% in all other age groups.

Americans' Top Priorities

The poll asked Americans to identify, without prompting, what should be the "top priority for the president and Congress to deal with" at the present time. The results show that more than 4 in 10 Americans, 42%, say the war in Iraq should be the top priority. This is followed by fuel or oil prices, at 29%, immigration, at 23%, the economy, at 14%, and healthcare, at 12%.

The President and Congress might note that banning gay marriage did not even make the list.

Other issues mentioned in response to the question include terrorism, education, the federal budget deficit, unemployment or jobs, and taxes.

Here are the full results:

What issue do you think should be the top priority for the president and Congress to deal with?	2006 May 22-24
	%
Situation in Iraq/war	42
Fuel/oil prices/lack of energy sources/the energy crisis	29
Immigration/illegal aliens	23
Economy in general	14
Poor healthcare/ hospitals; high cost of healthcare	12
Terrorism	4
Education/poor education/access to education	4
Federal budget deficit/federal debt	3
Unemployment/jobs	3
Taxes	3
Social Security	2
International issues/problems	2
National security	2
Environment/pollution	2
Medicare	2
Foreign aid/focus overseas	2
Poor leadership/corruption/dissatisfaction with government/ Congress/politicians/candidates	2
Poverty/ hunger/ homelessness	1
Ethics/moral/religious/family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity	1
Natural disaster relief/funding	1
Trade deficit/foreign trade	1
High cost of living/inflation	1
Unifying the country	*
Judicial system/courts/laws	*
Abortion	*
Lack of money	*
Gap between rich and poor	*
Other	1
No opinion	4

Percentages add to more than 100% due to multiple responses.
* = Less than 0.5%

Over the past month, Americans have become increasingly likely to say fuel and oil prices and the war in Iraq should be the government's top priorities. Twenty-nine percent of Americans in April said the war in Iraq should be the top priority, and now, 42% feel this way. There has also been a 16-point increase in mentions of fuel prices, up from 13% in April to 29% now. More Americans now say fuel prices should be the top priority than immigration, which showed only a slight increase from 20% in April to 23% in May.

Partisan Views of the Nation's Priorities

Republicans (including independents who lean toward the Republican party) and Democrats (including Democratic-leaning independents) differ significantly in their view of where the president and Congress should be focusing their attention.

Republicans have three top issues: the current situation in Iraq, immigration, and fuel or oil prices, with between 30% and 37% mentioning each. Among Democrats, the war in Iraq is, by far, the most salient issue, with nearly half of Democrats mentioning it.

Top Priorities by Party Affiliation, May 22-24, 2006
	Republicans (including "leaners")	Democrats (including "leaners")
	%	%
Situation in Iraq/war	37	47
Immigration/illegal aliens	33	14
Lack of energy sources; the energy crisis; fuel/oil prices	30	26
Economy in general	10	17
Poor healthcare/ hospitals; high cost of healthcare	7	12

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to mention immigration (33% vs. 14%), while Democrats are more likely than Republicans to mention the war in Iraq (47% vs. 37%), the economy (17% vs. 10%), and healthcare (12% vs. 7%). Republicans mention fuel or oil prices more frequently than Democrats, though these differences fall within the margin of error for this survey.

Since April, there has been an increase among both party groups in mentions of Iraq and fuel prices. Mentions of Iraq increased from 25% to 36% among Republicans and from 31% to 47% among Democrats, while the percentage saying fuel prices rose from 14% to 30% among Republicans and from 14% to 26% among Democrats. Republicans are also slightly more likely to mention immigration this month, up from 27% to 33%, but there has been little change among Democrats, from 15% to 14%.

The poll was conducted May 22-24 of a nationally representative sample of 1,003 members of Gallup's household panel.

For the complete report by Joseph Carroll at Gallup – click here.

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