Gallup poll: Iraq remains issue No. 1 by a wide margin

There is the beginning of a new conventional wisdom going around that Iraq is fading from the political landscape as the top issue for most Americans.

Presumably with our Fearless Leader and his Mighty Surge having pacificed Baghdad (except, oops, for Baghdad's only refinery going up in flames today) the public no longer cares about Iraq.

This new CW now says people are now more concerned about the economy, health care, etc. This is also bullshit, according to a new Gallup poll.

In recent days, several pundits have asserted that the Iraq war as a campaign issue is over right now. It started with a Peter Beinart column in The Washington Post, which took as its main evidence that questions about the war were not being asked all that much at the Democratic and Republican debates. On the other hand, all of the Democrats are much in agreement against the war, and all of the leading Republicans in agreement in support of the venture, so questions may not seem so vital.

Now, today, comes a new Gallup poll which, reveals, as Gallup puts it, that when "asked which issues will be most important in determining their vote for president in next year's election, Americans by a wide margin say the war in Iraq, with more than one in three mentioning the war." Only after that do they mention the economy, healthcare, and illegal immigration. Gallup said that Iraq has diminished only "somewhat" as the top issue over the course of the year.

The raw numbers for top issue: Iraq 36%, the economy (i.e. lunchpail) 16%, health care 15%. Nearly 1 in 2 Democrats say it is the top issue and even 29% of Republicans feel that way.

This whole "The Surge is Working" BS makes me nauseous, as if it's OK for 20 to 30 Americans to die each month because a few months ago it was 60 or 70 per month.

But now that's being compounded by "Americans Don't Care About Iraq Anymore," which is based on exactly nothing -- just the idea that because candidates at debates get fewer questions on Iraq that people no longer care.

Well, we do.