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Minnesotans who think the war on terrorism is the most important problem facing the nation will probably vote for President Bush, but Sen. John Kerry can count on those voters who put economic issues first, according to a new poll.

The latest Minnesota Poll by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis was conducted last week when violence was increasing in Iraq and there were spats over counterterrorism and jobs back home.

The economy, terrorism and the war in Iraq surfaced as the top three worries in Minnesota, where Kerry holds a 50 percent to 38 percent lead over Bush, according to the poll. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

On dealing with the economy, 45 percent said Kerry would do a better job, compared with 35 percent who said Bush would handle things better.

Pollsters interviewed 562 likely voters March 28-29 -- before Friday's announcement that 308,000 jobs were created in March, a signal that the economy is recovering.

Bush gets more support on the issue of terrorism, where 47 percent of likely voters trust him to handle things better, compared with 34 percent who favor Kerry.

"Whether you like what Bush did or not, he took the reins in a very difficult time," said Mary Ellen Johnson, 58, a former technical college teacher from Brooklyn Park with a son serving in Iraq. "We have to do everything we can on the war on terrorism, or we will have no economy."

Typical of those who lean toward Kerry and rate the economy as the most significant problem is Peter Baker, 42, an emergency medical technician and tire shop worker in Glencoe.

"I don't like terrorists, nobody does," Baker said. "But we're struggling to make sure our schools are fully funded and that teachers aren't cut.... The economics of staying viable in Minnesota are getting scarier because jobs are disappearing."

In questions related to government spending, 44 percent of respondents said Kerry would do a better job of reining in the half-trillion-dollar federal budget deficit, compared with 30 percent who say Bush will do a better job.

Kerry's advantage widens on Social Security, where 45 percent trust him to do a better job, compared with 28 percent who give the advantage to Bush, who favors offering individual retirement accounts for many workers.

On the Iraq war, 43 percent said they trust Bush to do a better job, compared with39 percent who said Kerry would handle the situation better. A similar number, 42 percent, said Bush would do a better overall job on foreign affairs, as opposed to Kerry, who 39 percent trust to do a better job.

The poll found that Minnesotans were pretty evenly divided on what they consider to be the nation's top problem: the economy or the war on terrorism.

In open-ended questioning, the economy was the most frequently mentioned issue, selected by 24 percent as the most important problem.

War, and the threat of war, was identified as the most important problem by 14 percent of respondents. When added to the 12 percent who picked terrorism as the top issue, war and terrorism are the top worry of 26 percent of likely voters -- the same number as those who worry most about the economy and the budget.

"Naturally, the economy is important," said John Duffy, 70, a retired car dealership owner in Moose Lake. "But the war on terrorism comes first. There are radicals running around the world who want to kill us all, and they've got to be stopped."

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