As part of their annual Rights and Relations survey, Gallup today released findings from a recent study of 1900 adults nationwide showing that attitudes toward legal immigration had softened since the terrorist attacks on September 11.  That’s to be expected.

The problem with their findings is when they move from writing about legal immigration to writing about illegal immigration.  They make a leap from addressing legal immigration to addressing California’s Prop 187, which denied government benefits to illegal immigrants.

They do a solid job of detailing the dichotomy illustrated by two-thirds of Americans beleiving  immigrants cost taxpayers too much by using government services as opposed to becoming productive citizens who pay their fair share of taxes while 79% believe illegal immigrants takes low-paying jobs that Americans don’t want:

All this is very good–not surprising for Gallup.  However, they then editorialize that “illegal immigration has faded from the public consciousness”, based on the finding that just 27% of Americans Adults (not voters remember) say illegal immigration will be an extremely important issue to their vote for President this year.

Has illegal immigration faded as an issue?  The economy has certainly been the top issue since around last December, but what about illegal immigration?  According to PollingReport.com, it really hasn’t faded much at all when asked comparatively.  In May of 2007 (CNN/Opinion Research Corporation. May 4-6, 2007. N=1,028 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3), 31% called illegal immigration “extremely important” in their vote for president.  In January of 2007 (CNN/Opinion Research Corporation. Jan. 19-21, 2007. N=1,008 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3), 32% called illegal immigration “extremely important”,  In October of 2006 (FOX News/Opinion Dynamics. Oct. 10-11, 2006. N=900 likely voters nationwide. MoE ± 3), 29% said illegal immigration was “extremely important”.

So, the number today is 27%, and in the past it’s been 31%, 32% and 29%.  Pretty consistent, particularly considering the rise in importance of the economy.

Bottom line is this is a good survey by Gallup, and it’s a postive thing that attitudes toward legal immigrants have softened.  But attitudes regarding illegal immigration have, in my opinion, stayed about the same for the last few years and these data released today don’t prove anything different. 

Despite the economy and energy prices’ dramatic rise as a top issue among the electorate, voters indicate that the war in Iraq, illegal immigration, and continued protection from terrorism are also key concerns and will play a significant role in how they choose the next President of the United States.

The recently released AP/Yahoo News Poll demonstrates that voters are largely unsure which candidate can best fix the ailing economy (32% Obama - 28% McCain); however, they clearly believe that McCain is best equipped to deal with:

The situation in Iraq (39% McCain - 33% Obama)
Terrorism (44% McCain - 20% Obama)
Immigration (30% McCain - 24% Obama)

Clearly, voters trust McCain with overall security of the country and believe that he can reign-in the situation in Iraq.  The key for the McCain campaign now lies in proving that his experience can bring economic relief.  This is a far less strenuous task than Obama’s, who first has to prove that he is even trustworthy.  But, voters may have a hard time trusting in a candidate that is untested. 

Campaign media can do a lot, but building an alternate reality where Obama has actual leadership experience is not something I’ve ever seen political ads (even the best ads) do.