1) Iraq: Received 46 first-place votes from Republicans and 34 first-place votes from Democrats. Best quote by a Republican on the issue? "Far and away -- every other issue wilts in this topic's shadow." Best quote by a Democrat on the issue? "This is the primary issue that will cover this election: It symbolizes the Bush presidency -- determined, misleading, arrogant, partisan, and incompetent."
2) Bush's Performance: Received 11 Republican and 23 Democratic first-place votes. Best Republican quote? "Swing voters are losing confidence that Republicans can 'steer the ship' even when they get the policy right. Exhibits A, B, & C? Postwar Iraq, Katrina, and the ports deal." Best Democratic quote? "Overall, it appears that if the Democrats are successful in nationalizing the election, it will be about sending the message, 'Replace the dangerously incompetent Bush/Republicans.' "
3) Economy: Received 7 Republican and 3 Democratic first-place votes. Best Republican quote? "It is the matter of 'working harder and getting nowhere' -- unable to pay for college, retirements, and health care. That is the key ingredient." Best Democratic quote? "Despite what is generally good economic news from most published official reports, the public just ain't buying it. Too many people just are not confident enough about their own economic future to give the president political credit on the economy."
After the top 3, as I mentioned earlier, Republicans and Democrats start to diverge somewhat. For Republicans, the next most important issues are federal spending, immigration, ethics, energy prices, health care, and "Democratic obstructionism." For Democrats, they are ethics, energy prices, health care, immigration, and federal spending.
Quote on energy by a Democrat: "Have you seen those prices at the pump shoot up in recent days? If somebody in Washington doesn't pay attention, incumbents in the ruling party will pay in November."
Quote on federal spending by a Republican: "Unless the GOP can make a breakthrough soon, they've lost their biggest advantage over the Democrats. They're less compassionate, and spend just as much."
Love that last quote, by the way...pretty much sums it all up, eh?