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A recent poll by Lee Enterprises found 81 percent of Iowans are cutting back on spending, an astonishing figure after years of borrow-to-buy excess.
Most Iowans are driving less, saving less and cutting out non-essentials as gas and food prices have spiked and job security unravels.
The presidential campaigns have responded by appealing to voters on pocketbook issues and trying to ease fears about the country's economic future.
Tax cuts - The tax issue has fueled one of the bitterest disputes of the campaign season, erupting when Democrat Barack Obama told the now-famous "Joe the Plumber" he met on the campaign trail he wanted to "spread the wealth around."
Obama's statement was quickly used to make a case that he supports socialism, but Obama stuck by the idea that less should go to the top income brackets.
Obama claims the tax cut plan he is offering would help 95 percent of working families. At the Web site taxcut.barack
obama.com voters can calculate and compare the tax benefits of his and Republican John McCain's plans.
McCain and running mate Sarah Palin are trying to focus the debate on Obama's plans to raise taxes on those making $250,000 or more and point to other instances where it appears Obama wants higher taxes for those with much lower incomes.
McCain and Palin argue that lowering taxes for small businesses gives them more money to put new people on the payroll, a crucial element to job creation and keeping the economy afloat.
Energy prices - Despite the unveiling of massive energy plans, the candidates can do little to lower gas prices in the immediate future.
Drill baby, drill is the mantra for McCain, who is a proponent of more offshore oil drilling to increase the country's domestic oil supply. He's also in favor of developing more nuclear power plants across the country. But he's at odds with the corn-producing Midwest because of his longtime opposition to ethanol subsidies that help support the growing biofuels industry.
Obama would invest in the research of renewable energy to help lessen the dependence on imported oil and to lower greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change.
Health care - An estimated 47 million Americans are without health insurance. McCain would extend a $5,000 tax credit to families or $2,500 to individuals to purchase their own private coverage. He would also eliminate restrictions that prohibit buying health insurance in another state, arguing competition will help drive down health care costs. Opponents have said the tax credits would not cover the cost of purchasing health insurance and that the plan would circumvent state regulations that help protect consumers.
Obama is offering a plan that would allow those without insurance to buy into the program covering federal employees. Critics are calling Obama's idea socialized medicine.
Perhaps more than all of their policy proposals, voters will be looking for a president they believe understands people like them and the struggles they face.
In uncertain times, just like Joe the Plumber, they want to know someone has their back.
