By Chip Minemyer
The Tribune-Democrat

JOHNSTOWN, Pa.

It's not surprising that national polls are showing that the economy is
listed by many people as the top political issue in the current election
season, given the current state of affairs on Wall Street and across the
country.
A new poll by Harris Interactive showed 54 percent of those responding
listing the economy as the top priority that government should address, up
from 43 percent a month earlier and well ahead of other issues:
Health care (21 percent).
The war on terror/Iraq and Afghanistan (17 percent).
Gas and oil prices (11 percent, and dropping).
The Harris poll showed high levels of dissatisfaction with government ­ both
the president and Congress and regardless of party affiliation.
Should we care what polls say?
And how accurately do they reflect what people really think?
Anyone who reads this opinion page regularly knows that abortion is a huge
issue in the Cambria-Somerset region. No other topic gets the attention
abortion does in our Readers' Forum, and it sometimes seems that abortion
letters outnumber letters on all other issues combined.
But is that representative of the feelings of all residents, or even all
potential voters, in the area? Or does it simply represent the views of
people who felt strongly enough about it to write a letter to the editor?
A new poll on our Web site (www.tribdem.com) asks which issue is most
important in this presidential election. I hope you'll participate.
But it's unlikely the number of responses will make the results
statistically valid. And, the results may be skewed because it will be done
online, and many people either won't or can't participate.
Polls do make for interesting conversation material. They give the media
something to point to when we want to report what people care about.
And you can bet the candidates are paying attention.
Most do their own polling, to get an idea where they stand with voters as
Election Day nears. But ­ at least on the national level ­ they also take
note of the study results, and adjust their campaign strategies accordingly.
In the end, I would hope you are all studying the candidates ­ national and
local ­ and trying to come to decisions about where your votes will go. And
I hope you aren't thinking about polls when you do that.
Obligated to vote?
A conference on Thursday at Santa Clara University in California will tackle
this question: Do we have a moral obligation to vote?
That one's easy: No.
Still, the conference should make for some interesting discussions.
Scott LaBarge, an associate professor of philosophy at Santa Clara, wonders:
"What was it the suffragists fought so hard for, if voting really means so
little?"
We have the right to vote. And we should all feel that voting is important
and should therefore vote.
But a moral obligation?
Hardly.
Suppose you have moral misgivings about both candidates on the ballot. Are
you obligated to pick one, when neither meets your standards?
Of course not.
Some voters feel strongly about issues linked to morality (see abortion
reference above). And morality ­ right vs. wrong ­ can mean different things
to different people.
But since we all know that not all eligible citizens are registered to vote,
and that many registered voters don¹t go to the polls anyway, it¹s a moot
point.
But it's a fun debate. What do you think?

Chip Minemyer writes for The Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown,Pa.