By Brad Bannon
At the national, state and local level there are a lot of angry voters these days and a lot of that anger is a function of the chasm between the issues that politicians talk about and the problems that voters worry about.
Current events in Washington DC illustrate the problem. While members in Congress fiddle with the fates of Terry Schiavo and faceless figures like John Bolton and Priscilla Owen, Americans focus on the two big issues of the day- the economy and Iraq.
Section Front
MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM
War in Iraq 19%
Economy/Jobs 19%
Terrorism 7%
Social Security 5%
CBS/New York Times Survey of Adult Americans May 2005
A CBS News national survey conducted during the third week of May indicated that one out of every five Americans thought that the war in Iraq was the biggest problem facing the nation and about the same number of Americans worried most about the condition of the economy. With the politicians and the people running in different directions, it is hardly surprising that only three of every ten Americans approve of the performance of Congress and only two of out ten Americans believe that Congress has the same priorities as they do.
In Congress, the state legislature or on the city council, the temptation is to put process over policy. The challenge for legislators is to translate process into policy and speak to the issues that voters really care about. Senators who oppose the nomination of John Bolton as United States ambassador to the United Nations should fixate less on Bolton's temper and his attitude towards the UN and should focus more on his habit of shaping intelligence estimates to political ends. The political shaping of intelligence estimates got us into a lot of trouble in Iraq. And Iraq is an issue that Americans really care about a lot.
Democrats who oppose the President's federal judge nominees should say a lot less about the extremism of the judges and a lot more about their hostility to the economic interests of consumers and working people.
The same thing happens at the state and local level. The issue concerns of California residents were fairly clear in a Field Poll conducted earlier this year. This issue mix is fairly common across the country at the state and local level and is obviously different the issue mix at the federal level.
CALIFORNIA FIELD POLL
EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT ISSUES
WELL BEING OF CHILDREN 77%
EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS 72%
HEALTH CARE 64%
Survey of Adult Residents of California
There is a lot of talk these days in Sacramento about legislative reapportionment but the problem of children is high on the hit parade of issues that Californians worry about. The concern about kids is common at the state and local level these days. Many voters are skeptical about the need for state and local action. But there is a widespread belief that state and local governments if nothing else should have an active role in improving the lives of children since they can't take care of themselves.
So if you are a state legislator who desires to broaden state health care programs, the best place to start is to make the case that all children should have access to quality health care regardless of income. Voters who are skeptical about universal health care programs in general might very well accept the idea that kids at least should have access to quality health care.
The issue mix at the local level is similar to the mix at the state level but there is a twist. In February of this year, the New York Times asked residents of the city about the issues that residents cared about most and the big winners were crime and education.
NEW YORK TIMES SURVEY
MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FACING THE CITY
CRIME 21%
EDUCATION 20%
Survey of adult residents of New York City
While education is part of the issue mix at the state and local level, voters these days see crime as the preserve of local governments. May times there is a connection between the two issues as voters see unruly kids as the source and the victims or much of the crime. For this reason, programs that are popular with voters at the local level are police crackdowns on juvenile gangs and programs to keep guns out of schools and out of the hands of kids.
The key thing to remember though, whether you are in Congress, the state legislature or on the city council, is to avoid the process trap and always pitch your actions to policies or issues that the voters care about. The more legislators deal with policy and not process, the less the danger is that voters will get angry and think that the salons are out of step with popular priorities. And legislators who fall out of touch with popular priorities are not likely to be legislators much longer.
Brad Bannon is president of Bannon Communications Research which
for 20 years has designed poll driven messages for
Democrats, labor unions and issue groups. You can
reach him at Click here to contact this Author with questions or comments.
