Undecided swing voters care about economy

New polls out this morning says that the undecided swing voters in six battleground states tend to be white, older, low-to-middle-income women who care most about the economy.

The surveys, released by AARP, found that 72 percent of those swing voters in Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania believe the presidential candidates are doing a poor or fair job of addressing those key issues. And 94 percent said that healthcare and financial security are too big for any one candidate or party to fix.

“Both candidates must be willing to work across party lines to deliver legislative solutions,” AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said in a statement. “The way they’re campaigning now, however, is not getting it done. People want a change not just in the White House, but in how Washington does business. The candidates need to set a tone in this election that doesn’t continue to undermine the public’s faith and trust.”

The surveys also found that 93 percent favor requiring clear explanations of healthcare costs so patients know how much they will be charged upfront; that 90 percent support requiring schools to teach financial literacy to all children; that 90 percent favor making healthcare affordable for small businesses by allowing them to band together for lower rates, providing tax credits to offset employer premium contributions and protecting them from large rate increases; and that 89 percent favor establishing preventive care management to help people with multiple chronic illnesses receive better care at lower cost.

The polls were conducted from June 27 to July 20 and each have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The AARP is part of Divided We Fail, a coalition of unions and other groups who want to break partisan gridlock on healthcare and financial security.