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Between Sunday night's stunning Super Bowl upset and Tuesday's much-anticipated flood of presidential primaries, the unveiling of President Bush's historic, $3 trillion budget request today is likely to get lost in the shuffle. But the news provides a fitting framework from which to view the mood of the nation as more than half of all voters prepare to cast their first votes of the presidential race on Tuesday.

The budget plan nearly freezes spending on domestic programs to deal with a revised deficit forecast of more than $400 billion for the next two years. The weakening economy and the increasingly expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are largely to blame for the soaring national debt. They are also the two leading issues that will weigh heavily on voters' minds as they head to the polls Tuesday, new national surveys show.

Concerns about the nation's finances have skyrocketed in just the past two months. The percentage of ABC News/Washington Post [PDF] respondents saying the economy is in excellent or good shape plummeted from 28 percent to 19 percent since December. Positive ratings of the national economy also dipped about 10 points from last month in new polls from CBS News [PDF] and Pew Research Center [PDF].

Perhaps not surprisingly, the number of people sensing that the economy is in a recession has also risen along with those pessimistic views. Two-thirds told CNN/Opinion Research Corporation pollsters they think the U.S. is in a recession, up 5 points since early January according to trend data. Perhaps acknowledging the shift in media coverage toward economic issues, FOX News/Opinion Dynamics [PDF] pollsters even went so far as to ask respondents whether they thought the crisis was real or "just something news reporters are talking about." Nearly three-quarters said the downturn was not a mirage, and they were feeling its effects personally.

CBS respondents chose the economy over Iraq as the most important problem facing the country, 38 percent to 21 percent; the two issues were tied just last month. And three in 10 surveyed by FOX/Opinion Dynamics said the economy will be the top issue on their minds in the presidential race; only Democratic respondents rated the war in Iraq higher.

The public's mounting worries about the economy have not escaped notice in Washington, as is evidenced by the rare bipartisan effort to pass an economic stimulus package in the House. But persistent frustration with the current leadership -- job approval ratings for Bush and Congress still languish in the low 30s and 20s -- has prompted most Americans to view the stimulus plan with skepticism. More than two-thirds of ABC/Post respondents predicted the package will not be enough to head off or soften a recession, and seven in 10 CNN/ORC respondents agreed that is does not do enough to alleviate the crisis.

What About The War?
Americans continue to have no more confidence in Bush's handling of the war in Iraq than they do in his leadership on the economy, despite reports of progress being made on the ground there. His approval rating on each issue is at just about 30 percent in the ABC News/Washington Post poll [PDF].

Modest reductions in violence and casualties in Iraq haven't exactly had a sweeping effect on voters' attitudes toward the war. Last month, a 40-percent plurality of CBS News [PDF] respondents said the surge was making the situation there better, but in the most recent survey, about the same percentage said it is having no impact. Nearly 60 percent of all respondents to the latest survey still said that U.S. efforts to bring stability to Iraq are going badly, while only 38 percent said they are going well.

And They're Off!
Now that those pesky issues are out of the way, Poll Track will return Tuesday with full coverage of the latest national surveys on the Democratic and Republican presidential primary races.

The Public Pulse -- Latest Opinions At A Glance
The table below offers the latest key national numbers. Click on the number in question for poll details. (Last updated April 2)

20% Job approval rating.	28% Job approval rating.	19% Give the economy a positive rating.	20% Say country is going in right direction.

The above icons represent (left to right) Congress, President Bush, the economy and the direction of the country.

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