Survey: Government was top U.S. concern in 2014


President Barack Obama, Congress, and general political conflict combined to form the top U.S. concern in 2014, a new Gallup survey shows. Over a 12-month period, an average of 18 percent of Americans surveyed chose political issues as the most important problem facing the nation.
The economy, unemployment, and health care all followed right behind, each cited by at least 10 percent of Americans. It's the first time since 2007 that economic concerns didn't top the annual survey.
A closer look at the report shows how different issues gained or dropped in the polls by month. Unemployment concerns peaked in February, while race relations spiked in December due to recent protests.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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