Issue No. 1: The Economy

Given the headlines of the past few weeks, it's perhaps no surprise that the number one issue on the minds of Take Back America participants is the economy, according to a poll done by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research [1]and Politico.com [2].

"The economy and jobs" was considered by 30 percent to be the issue that "the president and Congress should be paying the most attention to." At last year's conference, 34 percent said the war in Iraq was the top issue and 13 percent said the economy. This year, 24 percent rated the war as the top issue. More than 700 Take Back America attendees participated in the poll.

Other issues rated as important by TBA participants are health care (15 percent) and energy and global warming (12 percent). Other issues listed in the poll fell below 5 percent.

The headline for the political reporters at the conference was which presidential candidate drew the most response from the conference participants, and there the answer was not a surprise, either: Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was the choice of 72 percent of the conference, while New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was supported by 16 percent. "Either" got 12 percent of the vote.

Last year, Clinton had the support of 17 percent of the TBA participants who were polled at a time when there were eight candidates in the primary and a non-candidate (Al Gore) who had significant support. The result indicates that Obama has convincingly won the support of activists who were in the camps of the other presidential candidates.