Despite close competition from other pressing issues, the economy is still the top concern for voters, according to a new Cheddar/SurveyUSA poll.
The poll, conducted October 1-4, 2020, showed that 15 percent of respondents named the economy as the most important issue for them when marking their presidential ballot.
This perennial election issue squeaked in ahead of "defeating Donald Trump" at 14 percent, compared to "re-electing Donald Trump" at 9 percent. Replacing the president got a two-point boost, however, after his COVID-19 diagnosis, with the economy losing ground as well.
There was also a significant spread in which demographic groups pinpointed the economy as the top issue, with 19 percent of Hispanics, 15 percent of whites, and just 7 percent of Blacks choosing the issue.
Amid nationwide protests and counterprotests, respondents were neatly split on issues of social justice and law and order. Black Lives Matter, social justice, and law and order each received 3 percent while All Lives Matter received 5 percent.
Other top concerns include COVID-19 at 12 percent, healthcare at 9 percent, and "preserving the democracy" at 6 percent.
On the Affordable Care Act — which reemerged as an election-year issue with the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — 54 percent of respondents said the Court should leave it as the law of the land, while 31 percent said it should be declared unconstitutional.
This matches closely with the 56 percent who said they felt either favorably or very favorably toward Obamacare and the 38 percent who felt unfavorably or very unfavorably toward it.
Younger and lower-income voters also had a better impression of the healthcare law — though those who were most concerned with the economy were less likely to be in favor. After Trump's COVID diagnosis, favorable impressions got a boost as well.
Finally, the poll showed significant doubts about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Just 28 percent said the country will know the outcome on election day, while 42 percent said: "maybe a week after." A sizable 21 percent predicted we'd know sometime before Thanksgiving.
Again, Trump's hospital visit shifted the numbers, with slightly more believing the election would be over and done with on Election Day.
If some members of Congress have their way, there might finally be a 'TLDR' on sites' terms of service, introduced by the terms-of-service labeling, design, and readability act – or TLDR for short. With this act, users will actually understand what they're agreeing to or the many ways in which their data is being used before pressing 'accept.' J.D. sat down with co-sponsor of the bill and Senator Bill Cassidy, to discuss.
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Texas's six-week abortion ban remains in effect after a federal appeals court ruling on Monday. The U.S. court of appeals for the fifth circuit temporarily transferred the case to the Texas Supreme Court, which is expected to leave the dispute in limbo for months to come. Katie Barlow, attorney and media editor of SCOTUSblog, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Hugh Odom, founder and president of Vertical Consultants, shared his expertise on telecommunications with Cheddar on the safety issue raised about 5G deployment by airlines. The installation was partially delayed again on Tuesday as the airlines warned of potentially catastrophic delays in a letter to the Biden administration. Later, both Verizon and AT&T relented and put a pause on some of the implementations. "The first thing the Biden administration needs to do is get everybody in the room and say, look, aviation industry, identify the problem — wireless industry, come up with a solution," said Odom.
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