War should be focus for Bush, Utahns say

A majority of Utahns say the war in Iraq should be the top priority for President Bush and Congress, according to a new Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll.

Sixty-three percent of 416 residents in the statewide poll ranked the war in Iraq as a "very high priority," pushing it ahead of four other issues, including the economy, Social Security, health care and immigration reform.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 5 percent, asked respondents to rank the five issues on a 1-5 scale, with 1 meaning a very low priority and 5 being a very high priority for Bush to pursue.

While Social Security had the lowest percentage of respondents ranking it as very high priority — 35 percent — it squeezed past immigration reform in overall importance. Immigration reform's overall ranking dipped slightly because of the higher number of respondents — 7 percent — who ranked it as a very low priority.

Economy and health-care reform ranked slightly higher on the priority list, with 40 percent of respondents listing health care as a very high priority and 37 percent ranking the economy very high.

Only 4 percent of respondents gave the war in Iraq a very low priority.