More Americans think foreign policy should be a top US priority for 2024, an AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON– In this time of war abroad, more Americans think foreign policy should be one of the U.S. government’s top priorities in 2024, and a new poll shows that international concerns and immigration are gaining importance among the public.

About 4 in 10 American adults named foreign policy issues in an open-ended question that asked people to share up to five issues the government would work on over the next year, according to a December poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center. for Public. Investigation of matters.

That’s about twice as many as those who mentioned the issue in the AP-NORC poll conducted last year.

Longstanding economic concerns still overshadow other issues. But the new survey’s findings point to greater concern about U.S. involvement abroad: 20% expressed that sentiment in the survey, up from 5% a year ago.

It also shows that the war between Israel and Hamas is fueling public anxiety. The conflict was mentioned by 5%, while a year ago almost no one mentioned it. The issue has dominated geopolitics since Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza following that group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israeli soil.

Four percent of American adults mentioned the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as something their government should focus on this year. That’s similar to the 6% who mentioned it at the end of 2022.

Foreign policy has grown in importance among respondents of both parties. About 46% of Republicans mentioned it, up from 23% last year. And 34% of Democrats consider foreign policy a focal point, up from 16% a year ago.

Warren E. Capito, a Republican from Gordonsville, Virginia, fears that China could soon invade Taiwan, creating a potential third source of global conflict for the United States. “They would love for us to split into three parts,” he said of China, and “we’re already very spread out.”

Immigration is also a growing bipartisan concern.

Overall, the survey found that concerns about immigration rose to 35% from 27% last year. A majority of Republicans, 55%, say the government should focus on immigration in 2024, while 22% of Democrats listed immigration as a priority. That’s an increase of 45% and 14%, respectively, compared to December 2022.

Janet Brewer has lived her entire life in San Diego, across from Tijuana, Mexico, and said the situation at the border has deteriorated in recent years.

“It’s a disaster,” said Brewer, 69, who works part time after running a small medical and legal secretarial and transcription business. “It’s crazy.”

Foreign military aid policy and immigration policy are intertwined, with President Joe Biden’s administration pushing a $110 billion package including aid for Ukraine and Israel that remains stalled in Congress as Republicans push for a deal. allowing for major changes in immigration policy and stricter policies. law enforcement along the US-Mexico border.

Brewer said he would not vote for Biden or a Republican for president in 2024, and might opt ​​for independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But he also questions whether a change in the White House would necessarily improve immigration policy.

Regarding foreign aid, he said: “I know we need to help. But we go. “We’ve done enough.”

Even when immigration and foreign policy emerged as concerns, those issues could not compete with concerns about the economy. Inflation has fallen, unemployment is low, and the United States has repeatedly defied predictions of a recession; However, this survey joins a series of surveys that show a gloomy picture of the economy.

About 76% of American adults said this time that they want the government to work on issues related to the economy in 2024, almost the same 75% who said the same at this point in 2022.

About 85% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats consider the economy a priority issue. But Republicans are more likely than Democrats to want the government to address some specific economic issues: on inflation, 41% vs. 22%, and on government spending or debt, 22% vs. 7%.

Meanwhile, 3 in 10 American adults cited inflation as an issue the government should focus on, unchanged from 2022.

The economy is one of the top topics mentioned by 18- to 29-year-olds (84%), followed specifically by inflation (39%), personal finances (38%), and foreign policy (34%). In the same age group, 32% mentioned education or school loans as something the government needed to address in 2024. That’s despite the Biden administration attempting new, more modest efforts to pay off debt after the Supreme Court overturned its broader original thrust.

Among those over 30, only 19% mention student loans. But Travis Brown, a 32-year-old forklift operator in Las Vegas, said he has been receiving calls again asking to pay off his student loans.

“Right now, with the economy, salaries don’t match up,” Brown said. “Blue collar workers are disappearing and I don’t see how that’s going to boost an economy. An economy prospers thanks to the working class. Not from the rich.”

Brown also suggested that the United States is too focused on sending aid to its allies abroad.

“I care about other people, yes,” he said. “But when you sit here and say, ‘I just sent $50 million to Israel,’ and then I walk out and see half a run-down neighborhood… you have to take care of your home.”

One possible sign that overall sentiment about the economy might be improving slightly is that mentions of personal financial issues overall declined slightly, with 30% mentioning them now compared to 37% last year. There were declines among Democrats, 27% compared to 33%, and among Republicans, falling to 30% compared to 37% in 2022.

A quarter of American adults say 2024 will be a better year than 2023 for them personally, and 24% expect it to be a worse year. About 37% of Republicans expect it to be a worse year for them, compared with 20% of independents and 13% of Democrats.

Only 5% of American adults are “extremely” or “very” confident that the federal government can make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2024, while 7% of Democrats and 11% of independents are optimistic, compared to 1% of Republicans.

Brown is a Democrat, but said he was disillusioned enough to perhaps sit out the presidential election, especially if it turns out to be a 2020 rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump, who has built a commanding early lead in the Republican primary. 2024.

“I don’t think he’s involved and maybe that’s bad,” Brown said. “But it’s like you’re losing faith.”

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The survey of 1,074 adults was conducted from November 30 to December 30. December 4, 2023, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.