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The economy continues to be the top issue that voters are interested in, with 25% saying they think the presidential candidates should talk about jobs and the economy, compared to 14% who consider Medicare and health issues important, and only 7% the war or Iraq. .
However, from a personal point of view economic confidence remains fragile. This may partly be due to the fact that wages and salaries are growing more slowly in the recovery than corporate profits. .
It may also be the lagging effects of unemployment, with the Democrats still able to claim that Mr Bush will be the first president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with fewer people in work than when he came into power. .
Unemployment is not as high as when the first President Bush was defeated by the upstart Bill Clinton in 1992, nor as high as when President Ronald Reagan won a second term in 1984. .
But particularly in the "Rust Belt" states like Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania, with their highly unionised workforces in manufacturing, unemployment is a key issue. .
Many of these workers tend to blame cheap imports from the Far East for their plight. .
Protectionist pressures .
With the US trade deficit approaching a record $500bn, there have been increasing calls for more protectionist measures - particularly against China, which alone accounts for more than a quarter of the trade gap. .
Many of the Democratic hopefuls for president have endorsed such demands, and want new protection for workers and the environment included in any new trade deals. .
Mr Bush has been steering a difficult course, agreeing to trade sanctions against steel and textiles imports while maintaining his position in favour of free trade. .
However, neither of the major world trade negotiations he has endorsed - the Doha round of trade talks and the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the centrepiece of his foreign policy in his first year in office - are likely to come to fruition before the election.
