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If a pollster asks a voter what their main issues are, they might answer the economy, crime, abortion rights in that order. They actually might be thinking their top issues are their unsatisfactory sex life, their crumby job, and the dripping faucet. In the voting booth, they may have different answers: Their voting priorities are on those issues they believe the candidate can influence.
For example, inflation and abortion don't have equal weight in voting decisions. It's easily understood by voters that Republicans would ban or restrict abortions and the Democrats would not. Inflation is a different story.
As for the economy and inflation, it is not obvious that the Republicans can do much about it if elected. The Fed independently sets monetary policy. The Republicans certainly haven't explained what they would do and why it would lower the price of gas, food, etc. We are in a period of global inflation in which Europe, Canada and elsewhere are dealing with the same inflation issues we are here. It's global economy. OPEC and Russia cutting the oil supply impacts the entire world.
As for crime, people have different ideas on what they envision. For some, it's urban crime: gang-related, drugs, etc. For others it's Uvalde and Sandy Hook Schools. So they have different ideas on how to solve crime. For some it's gun control. For others it's more militaristic police. Either way, crime as a priority doesn't necessarily indicate a person's political party preference.
It is similar for other issues such as immigration, voting integrity, etc. I might give high priority to those issues and have a completely different view on them than a MAGA Republican.
