The result is a still-close race, with the edge to Bush. In the absence of these a variety of issues usually share the stage, and thus it is this year. Compare that to 1992, when a blow-out 42 percent picked the economy. There are some differences between groups. Men are twice as likely as women to pick taxes as their top issue, one of the reasons Bush has held a solid lead among men.
More men also pick the economy, while more women cite education and health care.
All Men Women Dem. It's even more interesting when you look at vote preferences. As noted in Tuesday's tracking poll, Gore's having trouble maintaining the traditional Democratic advantage on Social Security because of the popularity of Bush's proposal to let people invest a portion of their retirement taxes in the stock market. But among those who picked it, Clinton beat Dole by 41 points. This poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 29-31 among a random national sample of 1,036 likely voters.