How many different ways can it be said? The American people care about poverty.

Yesterday, Politico's Alexander Burns cited several recent polls that present two pieces of good news to those who see economic injustice as a national priority.

First, we are hearing more about poverty. Comparing 2007 with 2003 ("the last pre-presidential year"), Spotlight on Poverty shows 145% increase in coverage of, as Burns writes, "poverty as a political issue."

What's even better news is that the public still wants more. In Spotlight on Poverty's newest poll, 56% of those surveyed said the media has failed to devote enough time to poverty in the current presidential campaign. Burns quotes Tom Freedman, of SOP and a former White House aide:

“The poll tends to show that the political conventional wisdom that voters don’t care about this issue is wrong."

Burns writes:

Freedman sees several possible explanations for the uptick in public interest, and in media coverage. Presidential candidates have been talking more about the issue. Evangelicals have gotten more engaged with anti-poverty activism. And with the “economy tightening,” Freedman said, it makes sense that voters would want to hear more about anti-poverty policies.

And poverty is not just a progressive issue, Freedman and fellow analyst John Bridgeland say. From the Politico:

“Even among Republicans and Democrats, the answers were similar,” they wrote. “A majority of each felt there hadn’t been [an] adequate amount of time spent on the topic.”

That Americans are engaging this issue isn't a well-kept secret. In addition to these polls, the recent Pew study showed that a majority of Americans, across all religious groups, want the government to do more for the needy. After Super Tuesday, Faith in Public Life polls from Missouri and Tennessee showed that evangelical voters of both parties want a broad agenda that includes "ending poverty."

What, then, should we think when religious or political leaders ignore poverty and argue that the "people" really want to talk about wedge issues like abortion or same-sex marriage? Is it simply ignorance? Or a deliberate move to sweep a deeply important issue under the rug to advance their own agenda? Whatever the case, these polls show that neglecting poverty is neglecting the will of the people.