Poll: Only 26% of Voters Think ‘Russia’ is Biggest Problem

A new poll released Thursday by Rasmussen Research casts serious doubt on the mainstream media’s ceaseless focus on Russian “collusion” narratives.

Just over a quarter of respondents to the mixed online and telephone poll said they considered alleged ties between Russia and President Donald Trump or his campaign the “biggest problem” facing the country. The poll offered respondents six options. The results broke sharply on partisan lines, but, even among self-identified Democrats, only 40 percent cited “Russia” as their top concern. The corresponding figures for Republicans and independents were 13 and 25 percent, respectively.

The only category for whom the majority of respondents find Russia to be the most pressing issue are those who “strongly disapprove” of President Trump’s job performance. Of those who “strongly approve,” only one percent did. A Rasmussen tracking poll released the same day estimated these categories at 49 and 26 percent of the country respectively, with a 43-57 percent approval-disapproval ratio overall.

According to Rasmussen’s analysis, Russia was significantly more concerning to Americans over 40-years-old than under and cited more often by black Americans in particular compared with whites and other racial groups.

In contrast, the remaining 74 percent of poll respondents pointed to other matters that have been given far less attention by the mainstream press as the “biggest problem” for America. The most popular choices were the economy, at 18 percent, Obamacare at 16 percent, taxes at 15, and national security at 14. The president’s signature concern of illegal immigration ranked as the biggest problem with only seven percent of voters.

Voters under 40 in particular were more likely to cite the economy than Russia as their own “biggest problem” for the country. The age of consumers of TV news, the segment of the media most slavishly devoted to the “Russia story” these past months, continues to edge upward, with the average TV viewer reached 44-years-old in 2014.