Health care is the number one issue on the minds of Wisconsin voters as they prepare to head to the polls this fall, but they're not hearing enough about it from Gov. Jim Doyle and his Republican challenger, Congressman Mark Green, according to the results of a poll released this week by One Wisconsin Now (OWN).

The poll, conducted for OWN by Abacus Associates, a national survey research firm, asked 718 likely Wisconsin voters to list the top two issues demanding action from government. Nearly half (45%) ranked health care as number one or two, with health care the top priority for most.

The poll found taxes to be the second-most cited concern (34%), followed by the economy and jobs (34%) and education (31%).

“Health Care reform is on the ballot this November,” said OWN Director John Kraus in a press release. “This survey of public opinion shows that health care reform is a top priority for voters, and they want it to be a top priority for state government.”

But do the campaigns get it? The OWN poll found that more than half of likely voters (53%) are "dissatisfied" with how much they are hearing in these elections about health care reform. Only 35% said they thought they had "the right amount" of information.

Wisconsin health care costs have hyper-inflated 75 percent since 2000, making the state one of the most expensive in the nation to buy health insurance. Yet the race for governor has focused on sleaze and scandal — fair play in campaign funding, corruption, pay-to-play contracting and special interests. This week, jobs and the economy took center stage.

Rather than blame the campaigns, OWN pins the responsibility on the media.

“When a majority of voters say that their top issue has received too little attention, it brings into question the media’s focus and coverage of the election,” Kraus said.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is also criticizing state TV news and its vaccum of political coverage even as news programming is framed by negative political ads. Media, in turn, blames the mudslinging machines set to full throttle by the campaigns.

OWN's health care/blame-the-media press release was largely ignored by media Tuesday (Journal Sentinel posted a brief on its All Politics Watch minus the blame angle). When OWN repackaged its media release the next day to reveal that their poll put Doyle in front of Green 47% to 41%, they fared no better in Milwaukee. Another All Politics brief.

On the streets today, the Journal Sentinel main does feature a story on polling, but talks about the new Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert's College poll, which puts Doyle up 51% - 38%. That poll is contrasted with the Wall Street Journal/Zogby online poll, which has Doyle in the lead 47.4% - 45.6%. There is no mention of the OWN poll.

One Wisconsin Now is a relatively new organization, formed in the last year to rebuild Wisconsin's progressive traditions, its mission to help connect the state's progressive nonprofit groups and their goals to issues and policy, to candidates and the voting public. OWN's conclusion on media may be misguided, but in its first major poll, they've proven much more compelling than the usual polling suspects that media turns to: the notoriously Left Public Radio/St. Norbert's or the notoriously Right Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI). OWN's polling is scientific, comprehensive and well worth a look.

Did you know that voters in the Milwaukee media market are much tougher on Gov. Jim Doyle than voters in markets in the rest of the state (jobs and the economy and media)? Or that nearly 60 percent of undecided voters in the state think health care is receiving short shrift in the governor's race?

Interesting stuff. And, with election day less than three weeks away, a potential wake up call for the Doyle and Green campaigns.