Pew Poll Shows Americans Want Focus on Jobs and Economy; Not Guns, Not Illegal Immigration, Not Global Warming

"I'm your boss and father (according to Chris Rock, at least). I will focus on what I wish... and if that means deficit spending, so be it!"

But Obama's packing the audience with gun violence victims and gun control advocates. Any guesses on what his hyper-partisan State of the Union speech is going to focus on?

But hey, anything to keep Americans from thinking about what a miserable job Obama's done. I mean spending trillions of dollars all to create a crappy economy. Change! No one said it would be cheap!

From the Pew Research Center:

When Barack Obama took office four years ago, reducing the budget deficit was a middle-tier item on the public’s agenda. Only about half of Americans (53%) viewed it as a top policy priority in January 2009, placing it ninth on a list of 20 policy goals.

But as Obama begins his second term, only the economy and jobs are viewed as more important priorities for the coming year. Currently, 72% say that reducing the budget deficit should be a top priority, up 19 points from four years ago.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Jan. 9-13, 2013 among 1,502 adults, finds that Americans continue to view other domestic initiatives as important priorities as well, despite their focus on the deficit. Growing numbers give high priority to dealing with education, the problems of the poor, crime and the environment.

Fully 70% say that improving the educational system should be a top priority, up from 61% in January 2009. And 57% rate dealing with the problems of the poor and needy as a top priority; four years ago, 50% viewed this as a top priority.

The survey finds that 52% view protecting the environment as a top policy priority, up 11 points from January 2009. However, dealing with global warming remains at the bottom of the public’s agenda for 2013; just 28% see this as a top priority, little changed from recent years.

Gun control also ranks relatively low on the public’s priority list; just 37% rate it as a top priority, 18th out of 21 policy goals tested. This item was last asked in 2001, when support for gun control was much broader nationwide, and 47% rated it as a top priority. However, reducing crime has become a more important policy priority in the past year; 55% rate this as a top priority, up seven points since last January and the highest percentage since 2007 [emphasis mine].
 

Yeah, but the media can show hot topic issues like global warming and gun control as immediate and panic-making. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!!! And then Obama can push through Left's pet issues, despite the fact few people feel it's a priority to even address.