Report Summary

A survey by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press finds a public far more interested in the state of the economy than in any other potential issue in the 1992 presidential campaign. Voters say they want to hear more about where presidential candidates stand on issues than they have in past campaigns, and 66% of them say the economy is the issue they want discussed. Eighty percent of those polled by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press respond that in 1992 they would like to see more media coverage of presidential candidates discussing their positions on issues, and the “overall condition of the economy” was the individual topic most frequently cited (43%), followed by unemployment (15%), and the budget deficit (8%). Education (11%), abortion (10%), health care (8%) and homelessness (8%) were other frequently cited domestic issues. Overall, 83% of Times Mirror’s respondents cited domestic issues, compared to only 15% who named international issues.