Deep in the numbers of the newly released CNN poll, we find 42 percent of registered voters said the issue of “gun policy” would be “extremely important” to their vote for president next year. In 2012, that number was 22 percent. That year, 22 percent said it was “not that important”; that figure is down to 8 percent now.
Interestingly, 43 percent of women said it was “extremely important,” and 40 percent of men.
Unsurprisingly, illegal immigration is also much more prominently on voters’ minds. In 2012, 28 percent said it was “extremely important” to their vote for president; that figure is now 39 percent. Only 14 percent said it was “not that important,” and now that figure at 11 percent.
The percentage saying the economy is “extremely important” is down a bit from the summer of 2012; back then 58 percent ranked it that highly, now it’s 52 percent.