Poll: Americans think terrorism is the country's No. 1 problem

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Americans now regard terrorism as the primary issue facing the United States, a Gallup survey released Monday indicates.

Attitudes regarding terrorism are typically affected by recent incidents, and after attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., 16 percent of respondents called terrorism the country's most important problem. It rated 3 percent in a poll in early November.

The quality of the country's leadership was mentioned second-most, at 13 percent.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats or self-described independents to cite terrorism as their foremost concern. The current survey said 24 percent of Republicans view terrorism as the primary issue, up from 4 percent in November; 9 percent of Democrats and 15 percent of independents agree, up from 3 percent of Democrats and 2 percent of independents, respectively, in November.

Past surveys note references to terrorism as a major problem rise after every incident, then fall quickly, but the rapid succession of recent publicized occurrences has Americans on edge. The same poll conducted in January after the terror attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices in January found 8 percent considered terrorism the biggest problem in the United States.

Satisfaction with what Gallup described as "the way things are going in the U.S." fell to a 13-month low in December at 20 percent.

The Gallup poll was conducted Dec. 2-6 through landlines and cellphones nationwide, with 824 adults and a margin of 4 percentage points.