Poll: Economy, health care top issues in 3 battleground states

(CBS News) A majority of voters in the crucial battleground states of Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio say the economy and health care are "extremely important" issues with regard to how they will cast their votes this fall, according to a new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll.

The survey, conducted from August 15-21, suggests that voters in all three states consider the economy the most important issue in this election: 60 percent of likely voters characterized that issue as "extremely important" in Florida, while 59 percent in Ohio and 54 percent in Wisconsin said the same.

Health care had the second-highest proportion of voters who ranked the issue "extremely important": 56 percent of Florida voters characterized the issue that way, as did 52 percent of Ohio voters and 50 percent of Wisconsin voters.

CBS News

Many voters also characterized Medicare and the budget deficit as "extremely important," while fewer said the same of taxes, foreign policy, and the housing market and foreclosures.

On these four issues, voters had more confidence in Mr. Obama than Romney on health care and Medicare, but they thought Romney would do a better job fixing the budget deficit.

Voters were more divided as to whether Mr. Obama or Romney is more equipped to handle the economy: Romney had an edge in Florida and Wisconsin, while the two are tied among Ohio voters.

In Florida, voters generally disapprove of the 2010 health care law enacted under the Obama administration, while voters in Ohio and Wisconsin are divided. But even in Ohio and Wisconsin, those who disapprove tend to feel more strongly on the subject: Four in 10 strongly disapprove. Obama voters overwhelmingly approve of the law in all three states, while Romney voters disapprove.

In the three states, meanwhile, just over one in five voters think the law will help them personally. More than one third of those voters think it will hurt them.

It's official, Wisconsin: You're a swing state
Poll: Ryan pick helps cut into Obama lead in Wis.

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[walkthetalk]

Obama's Jobs Bill DOA! More Government workers, Does Not Help the Economy. It only Breaks the Taxpayer Back. Think!

[walkthetalk]

I would gladly trade.

[walkthetalk]

President Obama has created a lot of Jobs, in the Government. YEA!

[TimeToEvolve]

What I find sad and amusing is that so many people think that we actually have real elections in this God forsaken country. The reason I say this is simply because of the existence of the radical extremist Republicon Pary. The party that actually wants to codify racism, end women's rights and health and further push the failed scam of "free market" and trickle down.

While I will vote and work to elect more progressives, I know it is pretty much fixed, the fiasco of the Bush Cheney Crime Family convinced me.

[TimeToEvolve]

It's too bad that the Republicons could not care less about the economy (except for the Wall Street 1%) or health care for seniors, women or the poor. And yet they maintain they are Christians. What a joke.

[marychgo]

We've seen this movie before! There isn't a single NEW economic idea (or any other kind of idea) in the Republican platform, or in anything either Romney or Ryan has offered.

The Spoiled Fratboy ticket doesn't know how to get the economy moving, but they BELIEVE (because they've taken a gigantic leap of faith) that throwing money at rich people will eventually work. We've been trying that since the '80s, which is why the poor and the middle class are much poorer than we used to be, while the rich are gigantically more rich than they used to be.

"Voodoo economics" IS what Bush 41 said it was 30 years ago: an insane religious cult! Do the American people really have to suffer through another four years of that madness to figure that out?

[nottblu]

How have those democrat policies worked out? I mean the dems had both houses of congress for the last two years of Bush's term and the first two years of Obama's still hold the majority in the Senate and obama has been president for almost four years. 6 trillion added to the defecit, gasoline at nearly four dollars a gallon, food stamp use up 40% in the last three years, 8 plus percent unemployment for 42 straight months, trillion spent on stimulus designed to keep unemployment from reaching 8 percent, housing market still in the tank, the list goes on and on. When do your beloeved dems get to take responsibility for that last six years of failure? Ever?

[bbglow]

@nottblu ... so, you're saying we should thank the Bush administration for not making it a worse situation to recover from? And, we should thank the Ryan congress for saving US through obstruction from the Obama administration recovery?

[bbglow]

Romney 2012! ... I'm already in line to return to work and the promised high paying employment!

[bbglow]

... kool beans ~~~!

[bbglow]

Romney is elected, Obama gets to sit back and relax and watch the Romney administration deliver millions of employment opportunities.

The question remains where (what country?) and what degree of minimum wage? And, what degree of fool will the voters feel when all is said and done?

[nottblu]

how many millions of employment opportunities has Obama delivered?

[TimeToEvolve]

Do enough Americans understand that RobMe and Lyin' Ryan only care about the wealth for the Top 1%?

Do these people understand the RobMe Ryan bozos don't care about the health of seniors or women?

Do they miss the last Republicon Presidential disaster that we are still trying to recover from?

[taxed01]

You seem to have evolved into a dumbocrat baboon.

[bbglow]

Bush ... four more years!

[BFR50]

The survey, conducted from August 15-21, suggests that voters in all three states consider the economy the most important issue in this election: 60 percent of likely voters characterized that issue as "extremely important"

Well if that is the case than Obama doesn't have a prayer of being re-elected.
Nobody cares about the other distractive and non priority things Obama is using in his rhetoric and political ads.
As a matter of fact it is just making us angrier
and ready for a real change from the BS of the past 3 1/2 years of Obama's failed presidency.