Issues rated as "extremely important" in November's AP/Yahoo! News poll, and how that sentiment changed in the December survey:
Health care: 48 percent then, 53 percent now. The economy: 46 percent then, 52 percent now. Social Security: 42 percent then, 48 percent now. Gas prices: 47 percent then, 48 percent now. Situation in Iraq: 45 percent then, 46 percent now. Terrorism: 44 percent then, 45 percent now. Political corruption: 39 percent then, 44 percent now.
On health care, 41 percent of those polled trust Democrats more, compared with 17 percent who prefer Republicans. On the economy, 34 percent trust Democrats, 22 percent Republicans.
On Iraq, 34 percent trust Democrats, 24 percent Republicans. About the only issue on which Republicans get the call is terrorism: 29 percent to 22 percent.
Sixty-five percent of those polled said the United States should adopt universal health insurance that covers everyone under a program such as Medicare that is run by the government and financed by taxpayers. Fifty-four percent went where politicians dare not tread, saying they supported a "single-payer" health system whereby all Americans would get their health coverage from a single government plan financed by taxpayers.
Seven out of 10 believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay if they are married to U.S. citizens; nearly three out of 10 would have them deported. Fifty-six percent say that illegal immigrants who pay taxes should be allowed to stay.
But majorities believe illegal immigrants should be deported even if they pay a fine or learn to speak English or have children born in the United States. Nearly three out of five of those polled said they "completely oppose" letting states give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Fifty-one percent of Americans said they were now tuning in to news about the presidential campaign, either a "great deal" or "quite a bit," up 6 percentage points from November.
Some 14 percent said they felt excited about the election, up from 11 percent in November. But more also felt bored _ 10 percent in November, 14 percent now. About the same felt interested _ 43 percent then, 42 percent now. Same with "hopeful" _ 42 percent then, 44 percent now. And about a third felt frustrated by the whole thing.
The Associated Press-Yahoo News survey of 1,821 adults was conducted from Dec. 14-20, and had an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. Included were interviews with 847 Democrats, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.4 points, and 655 Republicans, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 points. The poll was conducted on the Internet by Knowledge Networks.
— Dennis Junius and Associated Press Writer Christine Simmons contributed to this report.
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