What is the most important issue for that all-important swing group known as independent voters?


Jeffrey H. Anderson of the Weekly Standard went through the recent poll Independent Women’s Voice commissioned from Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen and found the issue that concerns them above all others. Hint: it has something to do with a 2,000-page plus bill that was passed over and against public outcry.


Anderson writes:



What’s the one issue that independent voters most strongly demand that a candidate get right?  According to a survey of 1,000 independents (and likely voters) recently conducted by Democratic pollster Douglas Schoen and commissioned by Independent Women’s Voice, the answer isn’t “national security,” “taxes,” “immigration,” “the size of government and its level of spending,” “putting a mosque near Ground Zero,” “the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” or “the stimulus and bailouts” – all of which were listed as options.  Rather, the answer is “health care reform.”



And what must the candidate’s position on health-care reform be?  For 83 percent of the respondents who said their vote would hang in the balance, the candidate must oppose Obamacare.  So, according to the survey, if you support Obamacare, you’ve just lost 40 percent (83 percent of 48 percent) of the independent vote – before any other issue is even addressed.


Anderson then lists in order of concern the issues about which independents care most deeply.