The months leading up to the 2004 presidential election between John Kerry and George W. Bush were filled with commentaries
and speculations as to what issues most
concerned voters. This paper shows that, from a vast array of topics such as health care, employment, social
security, taxes, abortion and gay rights, voters at the polls on November 2 proved that what they were most concerned about was safety, thus homeland security and the Iraq war took center stage over all the other societal issues.