The Hill News

A Gallup poll conducted these week showed just one percent of Americans surveyed calling terrorism the top problem facing the nation.

That's down from a high of 46 percent in October 2001.

However, a year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the economy had already eclipsed terrorism in the poll with 19 percent citing terrorism as the top concern.

Terrorism continued to slide as a top concern, though the number rebounded a bit after the Christmas Day underwear bombing attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit.

When recently asked how terrorism ranks as a midterm campaign issue, though, 75 percent of respondents rated terrorism as an "extremely or very important issue" in their vote.