At his White House briefing today [1/22/06], with the president's State of the Union speech pending, Press Secretary Tony Snow was asked point blank if Iraq was "the most important issue facing the U.S." All major polls show that the public certainly thinks it is, and by a wide margin."
But Snow, answered, "it's hard to say."
[...]
...Snow would not commit to Iraq as the most vital issue. He called it a "vital concern" but added, "Americans also have a lot of other domestic concerns. And as a President one tries, or the President is trying to go ahead and to take a good, thoughtful, tough look at problems that aren't going to go away, no matter who is President, and say, as President, it is the obligation of the Chief Executive to take a look at all the business before the American people and address it."
In fact, it is the most important issue to americans -- by a very wide margin. A recent CBS News poll asked respondents, "What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?" as an open-ended question (i.e., their own words, not multiple choice).
33% answered "War in Iraq." The next highest ranking was 8%, for "Economy/Jobs." It seems to me that a 25 point lead puts Iraq far ahead of all other concerns. It's not actually all that 'hard to say.'
Tags: news | politics | media | White House | poll | Iraq | war | disaster | Tony Snow | bullshit
