One More Sign the Economy Will Determine the Election

The recession may be over, but many Americans do not see the economy that way. Stagnant wages, persistently high unemployment and a spike in energy prices may make the lives of some people in the United States worse than they were four years ago. The fiscal cliff continues to loom, even if many Americans are uncertain of its meaning. The media, economists and politicians have made it clear that the effects are bad. All in all, these troubles have put the economy at the top of the list of concerns on the minds of Americans, with the national election only weeks away.

A new

Methodology: Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 15 to 16, 2012, on the Gallup Daily tracking survey, with a random sample of 1,004 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia

Douglas A. McIntyre