CNN

People wait in line at a polling place in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles, on Super Tuesday. Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

The economy. The war in Iraq. Health care. Immigration. Terrorism. Those are the issues on the minds of Americans as they cast ballots on this Super Tuesday. But the issues are not “the issue” this election day.

The Wall Street Journal reports that voters are placing a higher priority on intangible qualities like leadership ability and governing style instead of ideas. It seems to be a reflection on the country's mood at the moment: people are sick and tired of the partisan wars and gridlock in Washington and are looking for someone to rise above it and lead. This is part of the reason why candidates like Barack Obama and John McCain are doing so well.

The Journal says: "To many voters, precisely what gets done seems less important than the prospect that something actually will get done."

One pollster says on the Democratic side there's been no correlation in exit polls between the issues people say are important and the candidate they vote for. As for the Republicans, a recent poll found that the characteristic on which McCain – who's now the front-runner – ranked the lowest was "shares your position on issues".

Of course, once we get past the primaries, this is likely to change assuming there are significant differences on top issues between the Republican and Democratic nominees. But for now, it looks like the American people are hungry for a candidate who can bridge the partisan divide and lead this country back onto the right track.

Here’s my question to you: What matters more to you in this primary election: issues or character, and why?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

We're headed into a week of "super-sized" events. First up on Sunday is the Super Bowl, where the undefeated New England Patriots go head-to-head with the New York Giants. And two days later, it's Super Tuesday. Voters in more than 20 states will go to the polls, perhaps finalizing their party's presidential nominees.

So which event are Americans more pumped up about? Turns out, it's almost a toss-up. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows 40% of those surveyed say they're more excited for the big football game, while 37% say they're more worked up about the Super Tuesday primaries.

The poll also found those who are more psyched for the Super Bowl include: football fans – no surprise there, those who haven't gone beyond high school, men and Independents.

As far as people who are more excited about Super Tuesday, that would include: non-football fans, college graduates, women and Democrats. When it comes to Republicans, they divide about evenly between the two events.

Here’s my question to you: Are you more excited for the Super Bowl or Super Tuesday, and why?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

Read the rest of this entry »