[W]e are once again seeing significant movement, as rapidly deteriorating attitudes toward the economy drive ratings of the country’s direction, consumer confidence, and President Bush’s job approval marks to new lows. As economic concerns grow, ratings of the Congress are also falling, but not the “Democratic Congress” and the massive Democratic advantage in the generic congressional ballot grew even larger in March.  . . .  

There is little question that the economy has now become the primary concern for most Americans, and the profound pessimism they express — nearly 80 percent believe it will continue to get worse — suggests this will continue to be the most important issue as the 2008 election develops. At the same time, the Republican Party and their presumptive nominee are severely out of step with the American public on Iraq and many Democrats are concerned with the linkage between the cost of an open-ended war and our economy. A CNN poll conducted around the 5-year anniversary of the invasion suggests most Americans may have already made the connection themselves; it found that over 60 percent of Americans believe the war in Iraq has had ‘a negative impact on life in the United States and more than 70 percent already see a direct link between the money spent in Iraq and the deepening economic recession here at home. And the CBS/New York Times survey reinforces this, with 2-in-3 saying ‘the cost of the war in Iraq has contributed a lot to the U.S. economic problems.

When it comes to “soft power” - matters of diplomacy, the promotion of democracy, and human rights and how America is viewed in the world - voters says Democrats do a better job than Republicans. On the issue of foreign policy, Democrats lead the GOP by a margin of 11 points, 47 to 36 percent; on “striking the balance between foreign and domestic issues” Democrats also hold a strong 21- point margin, 53 to 32 percent. 

On “hard security” issues - national security, protection of citizens and the war on terror - Democrats achieve near parity in areas that were once considered out-of-reach. While the Democratic Party still continues to trail on “national security” (39 to 45 percent) and “protecting America and its people” (38 to 44 percent), the deficits over five years on these questions has drastically narrowed and has altogether stabilized in some cases.

America’s economic discontent is rising. In this survey for Democracy Corps, 74 percent of Americans believe the economy is seriously off track. This includes 80 percent of independent voters and a startling 96 percent of “Democratic Wanna-Ds” - Democratically-inclined voters who are holding back from the Democratic candidates.  

Democrats are more trusted than Republicans on the economy by 51 to 39 percent but that almost exactly tracks the Democrats’ generic vote for president. Moreover, the Democratic advantage is built largely on consolidation among Democrats who trust their party to handle the economy by a 90 to 5 percent margin. Additionally, the survey found voters trust Republicans more than Democrats by 5 points on taxes.  

A populist message - one that focuses on solutions for the crunched middle class - is a winning one: An impressive 41 percent of voters said a populist stance is a very convincing reason to support a Democrat this fall.

Change from Bush stands alone for one quarter of voters as the single highest priority for Democratic presidential candidates.  

Voters also see Democratic presidential candidates addressing two of their highest concerns - the economy and the war in Iraq. On both of these issues voters prefer Democrats’ standing and they side with Democrats on the economy and Iraq by 14 and 9 points, respectively. 

 These two issues will certainly shape the upcoming primary debates as candidates discuss what policies will be better to get the economy moving again and deal with Iraq.  

On the Republican side, the priorities of the candidates are not clearly defined. Voters mention several issues as Republicans’ highest priorities (the war in Iraq, the economy and the war on terrorism) but none of them really breaks through.  

A confrontation between Clinton and McCain will produce a very polarized electorate with strong support from both bases and few voters crossing party lines. A base election could be a good thing for Democrats in an environment desperate for change.  

A race between Obama and McCain shows weaker support for the candidates from their respective bases and an intense battle for independents as both candidates are very popular with this bloc of voters.

A Lansing-based poll shows [Nader] at 10 percent in Michigan in a three-way battle. The EPIC-MRA poll has McCain at 46 percent, Clinton at 37 percent and Nader at 10 percent. 

If Obama is the Democratic nominee, the poll has Obama at 43 percent, McCain at 41 percent and Nader in third place at 8 percent. 

"Given the virtually total corporate media blackout, this is a remarkable result,'' the Nader campaign said.”And we are heartened by it. For Clinton, Obama, and McCain, 10 percent might seem like peanuts. But for Nader/Gonzalez, it shows we're on our way up.''

In Thursday night's interviewing, Clinton received a greater share of national Democratic support than Obama, the first time she has done so in an individual night's interviewing since April 3. That stronger showing for Clinton helped to snap Obama's streak of statistically significant leads in the three-day rolling averages Gallup reports each day. Until today, he had led Clinton by a statistically significant margin in each of the prior 11 Gallup releases.  

The full impact of the debate -- and the ensuing media coverage of it -- will be apparent in the coming days, and it will soon be clear if the debate has produced a shift back to a more competitive race, or if Clinton may have received just a temporary boost in support.

Despite her campaign's relentless attacks on Barack Obama's qualifications and electability, Hillary Clinton has lost a lot of ground with Democratic voters nationwide going into Tuesday's critical primary in Pennsylvania, a new NEWSWEEK poll shows.

The survey of 1,209 registered voters found that Obama now leads Clinton by nearly 20 points, or 54 percent to 35 percent, among registered Democrats and those who lean Democratic nationwide. The previous Newsweek poll, conducted in March after Clinton's big primary wins in Ohio and Texas, showed the two Democrats locked in a statistical tie (45 percent for Obama to 44 percent for Clinton). The new poll puts Obama ahead among women as well as men, and voters aged 60 and older as well as younger voters. (For the complete poll data, click here).