Those were of Democrats only. Democrats have always tended to care more about domestic issues. People who are more concerned with jobs or healthcare or education or the environment are more likely to identify as Democrats.
Yes, the trouble in Iraq has made a difference. And yes, the situation is improved by yesterday's UN resolution. But don't think it's solved, or that Bush is doing what Kerry (and Clark) have proposed. There are no UN or NATO troops committed and none promised or even likely, so American forces are still grossly overextended. The prisoner abuse problem has not gone away, and the complicity of Ashcroft and Rumsfeld looks even worse. God only knows what's gonna happen with the transfer of "sovereignty" or what it's even gonna look like.
And you aren't even considering the War on Terror, where Bush is still strongest, even with the hits he's taken on Iraq. As I said before, there's bound to be something happen close to November, engineered by the Rovians to remind us all how "tough" Bush is on terrorists. Or how we have to "stand with the commander-in-chief" and not change horses... yada yada. Very hard to dislodge an incumbent president during a war--I don't think it's ever happened.
I don't remember what polls I've seen, but a quick google revealed several. One, for example, from Washington Post/ABC, says:
"Nearly half of Americans ranked the situation in Iraq or the war on terrorism as their biggest concerns this election year. About one in four singled out Iraq as their most important voting issue, more than double the proportion who expressed a similar view five weeks ago. Almost as many said the war on terrorism is the issue that will determine their vote, also up from last month. At the same time, the proportion who said the economy and jobs are most important dropped by 10 percentage points, to 26 percent, after data that suggest the economy is growing and beginning to create large numbers of jobs."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25138-2004Apr19.htmlI also found an update of the same polling source, which shows terrorism and Iraq have gone down some since the above was written.
4/18/04
Terrorism... 22%
Iraq........ 23%
Economy......26%
Healthcare... 8%
5/23/04
Terrorism... 14%
Iraq........ 18%
Economy......32%
Healthcare... 8%
So these things do fluctuate, esp with the media all but ignoring what is going on even today in Iraq. It hasn't let up, but they'd much rather cover Reagan's funeral for as long as they can.
But whatever the polling shows at any given time, the most important point is that Americans already trust Kerry to do a better job on domestic issues. It's the foreign policy and national defense issues he has GOT to improve his image on.
Finally, it's just silly to say it's a matter of putting "all your eggs in one basket." We have to cover ALL the bases. Clark helps do that. None of the others do.