DES MOINES - Iowa swing voters rank economic issues at the top of their concerns going into the 2008 presidential election and stress bipartisanship as a solution to the country's fiscal problems, according to a recent survey sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons.

The survey of about 400 Iowa swing voters found that the economy far outweighs any other category of issues.

A quarter of those surveyed said the economy and high prices are their top concern when considering their choice to be the next president, while the war and foreign policy ranked second, with 13 percent of those polled saying that was their No. 1 concern.

Traditional values and health care came in third and fourth, with 2 percent and

3 percent respectively.

Nearly a third of respondents named future economic woes as their greatest fear, while no other category received more than 6 percent.

"Iowa swing voters tend to be older, a little more focused on the economy," said Terry Nelson, of Mercury Public Affairs, during a telephone press conference Wednesday.

The AARP survey focused on probable voters who said they were either undecided or leaning slightly toward likely Republican nominee John McCain or likely Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

The age range of the respondents skewed toward older citizens with most subjects older than 60, while 6 percent of respondents were younger than 34.

Vast majorities of respondents said they want to hear more from McCain, an Arizona senator, and Obama, an Illinois senator, on health care and the continued solvency of Social Security, and the candidates will have to court these older swing voters to do well in Iowa, said AARP State Director Bruce Koeppl.

"It's important that the candidates continue to reach out particularly to this cadre of swing voters to help them get the message across for their own success in this election," Koeppl said.

AARP sponsored surveys in Iowa and five other states thought to be battlegrounds in the 2008 presidential election.

The telephone surveys were conducted by Woelfel Research, Inc. from June 27 to July 20. The margin of error for each state is about 4.9 percent.

Nelson said the survey results in Iowa largely mirrored those of the other battleground states.

He said poll respondents valued bipartisanship in solving the economic problems in the country, and the results showed favorable ratings for both McCain and Obama on that score.

A majority of respondents who were asked about bipartisanship said they believe both McCain and Obama will work in some sort of bipartisan fashion if elected.

Fred Love can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or fred.love@lee.net.

BREAKOUT

How do Iowa swing voters view Obama and McCain? Answers in percent.

John McCain

Very favorably: 7

Somewhat favorably: 52

Somewhat unfavorably: 21

Very unfavorably: 11

Don't know: 9

Barack Obama

Very favorably: 16

Somewhat favorably: 45

Somewhat unfavorably: 16

Very unfavorably: 14

Don't know: 9