Republicans and Democrats actually agree on the 4 big issues of this election


Republicans and Democrats identify the same four issues as the top concerns of this election — even if they don't agree on how to address those problems. The topics, in order, are terrorism and national security, the economy, employment and jobs, and ObamaCare.
After the top four, partisan priorities diverge. For Democrats, education and wealth inequality take the next two slots. Republicans have a longer list of disproportionate concerns this cycle, including fiscal issues like the federal deficit and taxes, plus foreign affairs, immigration, and the size of government generally.
By contrast, gun policy, regulation of Wall Street, gay marriage, and environmental issues are of below average interest to both parties.
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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