Are we safer?

A new Gallup poll supposedly shows that "the availability and affordability of healthcare" is now a greater concern to Americans than "the possibility of terrorist attacks in the U.S"--68% to 45%, respectively.

First off, who knows how reliable this poll is; there is much documentation on how polls can tell the media whatever the media wants to report. That said, assuming the poll is accurate (actually, even if it isn't), the Democrats will likely cheer that Americans are caring less about the issue that Bush and the Republicans are strongest on--national security. True, healthcare is a thornier issue for the right than for the left, but my take on the poll is different. The way I see it, if fewer Americans are worried about domestic terrorism, it's probably because they see it as less of a threat--in other words, that the government is doing a better job at protecting us. We have not been attacked in almost 5 years. Can we infer from this poll that Americans do in fact believe we are safer today than we were before or right after 9/11? Or before Iraq? Here's another thought: more Americans today have a negative perception of Islam than immediately after 9/11, yet we also are less concerned about domestic terror. Is that because we believe the administration's policies have helped, and not hurt, us?

UPDATE: After looking at the specific poll data, my analysis may not mean much (whoa! alliteration alert) after all: Since 2001, the public's concern over healthcare has been in the 60s, with the exception of 2002 (56%) and 2003 (55%). Concern over domestic terror has stayed in the 40s since 2001, with a high of 49% in 2002 and 2003. Neither has changed much, and in fact healthcare has always been of greater concern to Americans than domestic terror, even post-9/11.

Tags: terrorism, healthcare, polls, Gallup, Iraq, national security, September 11