Democrats' Pocketbook Campaign Comes Up Empty

Pollsters say there's no contest: Voters are more anxious about the economy than terrorism.

So it makes sense that the Democrats would zero in on pocketbook worries in their bid to grab Congressional seats.

But the strategy's been a bust. Though polls show Republicans have lost economic credibility over the past six months, Democrats haven't managed to pull ahead much on the issue -- not enough, anyway, to likely change control in the House.

So where did Democrats go wrong? One reason may be that voters simply don't buy the idea of partisan fix-its for the economy. Also, most likely voters are in decent financial shape, though the economy is weak. Then there's the mixed-message problem, with Democrats trotting out Republican-like economic plans.

"While the Democrats are able to ask the question, 'Are you better off than you were two years ago?' and a lot of people would say, 'No,' I don't think there's a sense out there that either party has a plan to deal with the stock market or get the economy back up," said John Zogby, head of Zogby International, an independent polling firm.

Voters prefer Democrats' economic policies by a mere 2% over the Republicans' (43% vs. 41%), according to a Zogby poll released Oct. 31. "Neither party's going into this election with an edge," he said.

The same poll showed that the economy and jobs scored as the top election issue for 20% of voters, easily outstripping the second-ranked issue, education, named by only 12%. Taxes came in third, while terrorism and safety tied with health care for fourth place, identified as the top issue by a mere 7% of voters.