The economy is a higher priority than safety. But does anyone know enough about either of these issues to cast an intelligent vote this fall?

According to Rasmussen polls, Americans are putting the economy as a bigger priority than the war on terror, with Iraq actually being placed in the forth spot. Americans are also saying that they trust the Democrats over Republicans with the economy by a large margin, although that margin shrinks when you compare McCain to Obama. Marketwatch also says that Americans are concerned about the economy and the price of energy in particular, but that both parties need to find a way to focus on both the economy and national security.

Why are we now saying that the economy is a more important issues than our own safety and that energy is a more important issue than Iraq? It’s simple really, our focus is always on what is going badly, not on what is going well. Going back to Rasmussen, Americans believe that we are winning the war on terror and that the surge in Iraq is proving successful. We have basically been punched in the mouth by the economy, so we pay less attention to what we believe are successful wars in two countries.

We all remember the effort made by the Democrats to discredit General Petraeus at the Senate hearings months ago. And we also see how embarrassed those Democrats are now that the surge has proven successful despite their best efforts to stomp on it and actually call it a loss before it began. The good news for these Democrats is that the credit crunch and their refusal to allow the US to drill for its own oil has pushed the economy to the front of our voting brains. I mentioned earlier this month that the voters are blaming the Republican party for all of the economic woes due to the fact that the President is a Republican. This helps give the Democrats, and Barack Obama in particular, an edge in the upcoming elections.

There are other issues giving the Democrats an edge. These same polls give the Dems an edge with ethics, health care, and immigration. Giving the Dems an edge with ethics isn’t a big surprise because it seems today that only Republicans are being investigated for the numerous crimes committed by our Congress people on a daily basis. Congressional approval slipped to an all time low AFTER the Democrats swept the House and Senate, yet the Republicans are still to blame. Obama keeps showing up ahead in the Presidential polls, and the Congressional Generic Ballot is largely in favor of the Democrats. Again, with a Republican President in the White House, all of these problems are being blamed on his party, regardless of how the issues are being handled. The Democratic Congress is seen as the worst is history, but the American people want one of those Democrats to be in the White House and to have even more Democrats in Congress. And here I thought we were voting for change.

But is it this “Change” marketing campaign, combined with a bad economy, giving the Democrats the advantage. Almost 50% of the US sees McCain continuing the same policies as Bush, despite the many differences they had on so many issues. Some in the Dems circles have nicknamed him “McSame” in an effort to claim that if he is elected, we will have four more years of war and a bad economy.

To make things worse, no one is really expecting the economy to get into shape anytime soon, some predicting that it will get worse before it gets better. Here is another piece from MarketWatch

What is missing from those who blame the Republican party for the economy is two important pieces of information. One is that the credit crises stemmed from interest rates that are controlled by the Federal Reserve, not by the White House. Two is that the energy issue is due to a lack of supply to keep up with world-wide demand, partially caused by policies of the Democratic party. Both myself and Troy have discussed the energy issue here on this blog, and the Democrats are largely to blame.

But these two issues are ignored by an ignorant public. It is easier to blame a political party than actually research the issues and challenges that we face. This is why it is so easy for Obama to run on change. No one actually knows what needs to be changed. And this is why the Democrats are still poised to win the White House and increase their lead in Congress.