Americans narrowly say that dissatisfaction with government is the most important problem facing the country today, and that Republicans are better equipped to handle what they think is the country’s top problem than Democrats are, according to results from a Gallup survey released Thursday.
Seventeen percent of Americans said dissatisfaction with government is the country’s top problem, compared to 15 percent who said the economy in general, 12 percent who said immigration and 8 percent who said unemployment.
In August, the economy was in first at 14 percent, followed by dissatisfaction with government at 13 percent. In July, the two issues were tied for first at 13 percent.
Gallup’s Rebecca Riffkin noted that since November 2013, those two issues have typically been among the top-ranking problems, at times joined by unemployment, immigration, and health care.
After the top four, 7 percent listed race relations/racism and 7 percent said ethics/morals, 6 percent said health care, and 5 percent said the federal budget deficit. Four percent said education and 4 percent said the judicial system.
More Americans said the Republican party would do a better job than the Democrats in handling what they believe to be the nation’s biggest problem, with 42 percent choosing the GOP and 37 percent opting for the Democrats.
The survey of 1,025 adults was conducted Sept. 9-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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