The next president's priorities

As we wait to find out if the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain will take place tonight, online real estate company Zillow.com has released the results of a political poll.

Though the focus of the debate in Mississippi is supposed to be foreign affairs, poll participants don’t rank foreign relations as the most important issue facing the next US president.

In a survey of 2,016 US adults -- conducted for Zillow by Harris Interactive from Sept. 16-18 -- participants ranked energy/gas prices as the No. 1 issue facing the next president, US debt ranked No. 2, and housing/mortgage/foreclosure matters were No. 3. The top 10 was rounded out in the following order: Social Security, Iraq, Homeland Security, Immigration, Education, US tax policy reform, and Government reform/ethics.

(To view survey results, click here.)

And homeownership seemed to factor in voters’ opinions, the survey indicates.

Sixty-seven percent of non-homeowners said Obama will better address the housing market than McCain, while 33 percent of non-homeowners said McCain would better address the matter, according to Zillow. Among current homeowners, 52 percent said Obama would better address housing, while 48 percent said McCain would.

If you look at the candidates’ websites, they both have sketched out plans to iron out the housing market.

On McCain’s site, it outlines his belief that taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to “bail out real estate speculators or financial market participants who failed to perform due diligence in assessing credit risks.” Any policy changes, it says, should be paired with reforms that promote “greater transparency and accountability.” Further, he calls for helping struggling homeowners by allowing “deserving” homeowners “the opportunity to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects their home’s market value.”

On Obama’s website, he says he wants to “protect homeownership and crack down on mortgage fraud.” Among other things he wants to make sure buyers get complete information on their mortgage options, and to give a tax credit to middle-class homeowners, the site says. He proposes creating a 10 percent universal mortgage credit, strengthening rules for the subprime lending industry, mandating accurate loan disclosure, and closing bankruptcy loophole for mortgage companies.

Where do you rank the housing/foreclosure issue on the scale of importance for the next president? And what do you think of the candidates’ ideas?

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