As President Obama prepares to take on a second term, a new poll released Thursday may help crystallize what Americans believe his priorities should be for the next four years.
The latest poll from USA Today and Gallup shows that a whopping 95 percent of American adults believe it is either “extremely” or “very” important that Obama “take major steps to restore a strong economy and job market.” Eighty-eight percent apply the same designation to ensuring the “long-term stability of Medicare and Social Security,” while another 79 percent think it is extremely or very important for the Obama administration to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Large majorities of those surveyed applied the highest level of importance to most of the policies included in the survey. In fact, only three policy areas were deemed extremely or very important by less than 50 percent, including one of the signature debates of the 2012 campaign: raising taxes on those with income above $250,000 (47 percent), providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (37 percent) and making significant cuts to defense and military spending (29 percent).
