Seven years ago today, the roar of exploding planes and the spectacle of collapsing buildings riveted the nation's attention on a single topic, terrorism - and in the terrible aftermath, it seemed that focus would never waver.
But it has. Just 2 percent of Americans identified terrorism as their nation's top problem in a Gallup survey in early August - the lowest level since the 2001 attacks. And in new poll results released Wednesday, just 38 percent of respondents said they were at least somewhat worried that they or their families would become victims of terrorism - a nine-point drop since the question was asked last year and the lowest level since mid-2005.
'The majority of Americans are now not fearful of terrorist attack,' said Frank Newport, Gallup's editor in chief. 'Americans do not report to us that terrorism is the top issue for them in this election. It is the economy.'
In a separate question in the most recent poll, when asked to pick from a short list of issues the one that would be most important in deciding their vote for president, about 42 percent of people picked the economy, Newport said. Just 12 percent picked terrorism, putting it in a tie with the Iraq war, health care and energy. ...
....'The next president ... must prevent al Qaeda, or a Qaeda imitator, from gaining control of a nuclear device and detonating it in America,' Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in a recent opinion piece in the New York Times. 'Everything else - Fannie Mae, health care reform, energy independence, the budget shortfall in Wasilla, Alaska - is commentary.' ....
