What Matters Most
Posted by Vriz on May 14th, 2008
After the Clinton win in West Virginia primary the Democratic nominating contest still goes on.
According to the exit polling, economy once again mattered most to the WV voters. More than six in ten West Virginia voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country, and two-thirds of them backed Clinton. Nine in ten voters said the economic slowdown had affected them, including nearly half who said they were affected a great deal. Clinton was supported by about three-quarters of those most affected.
The U.S. economy has experienced the structural changes since the 1980s that, despite the robust economic growth, innovation, and increased productivity of the American workforce, prevented the vast majority of Americans from moving up on the prosperity ladder. Real hourly wages for most workers, for instance, have risen only 1% since 1979.
The voters have a sense of pessimism about the economy and about their future because despite working hard, they are
not living better. That’s what matters to them now and that’s what will matter to them in the general election in November.
