When asked to name the issue they considered most important in the presidential election, voters overall named the economy at a rate 47 percent, the war in Iraq at a rate of 12 percent, energy prices at a rate of 8 percent, healthcare at a rate of 7 percent, and the threat of an attack on the U.S. at a rate of 6 percent.
DeVries told CNA that about 45 percent of Catholics named the economy as the issue they were most concerned about, while 12 percent named the war in Iraq and 11 percent named the threat of an attack on the U.S.
Analyzing the polling trends, Zogby communications director Fritz Wenzel told CNA in an e-mail “Catholic voters continue to support Republican John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama in the presidential race.”
“McCain leads by nine percentage points in our two-person head-to-head polling, but there is still a significant slice who are yet undecided,” he wrote. “Catholic voters tell us they are more likely to be concerned about international issues than the average American voter, and they also care more about social issues, particularly abortion.”
“McCain's strength among Catholic voters comes as Russian troops moved into the Republic of Georgia, and as he put in a strong, straightforward performance at the Saddleback civil forum in California,” Wenzel continued. “In that forum, there was a clear distinction between McCain and Obama on the question of when a human life begins, and Catholic voters may be responding warmly to McCain's defense of his pro-life stance at that forum.”
Catholic political commentator Deal Hudson, using a baseball metaphor, said the Zogby poll shows the relationship between Obama and Catholic voters is at “strike two.”