Nate Cohn discusses the results of a new Pew survey of president Obama’s support and where it is dropping.
Today’s Pew Research poll paints a clear picture of the Obama defectors. They’re almost exclusively white voters without a college degree. Obama’s standing among minorities, college educated whites, and affluent whites has actually improved since the final Pew Research poll before last November’s presidential election. Instead, Obama’s support among white working-class voters has taken a huge hit, opening an unprecedented 41 point education gap among white voters. Incredibly, the poll now even shows Obama with a stronger approval rating among affluent whites than downscale whites—something that’s never happened for a Democrat in a presidential election.
I am not sure why Cohn is surprised that affluent white voters support Obama more than ‘downscale’ whites, since he has shown himself to be so friendly in his policies towards the former. I suspect that it is only because the Republicans have been so awful towards minorities that Obama has retained their support.
Are we supposed to believe that working class whites really think the republicans will serve them better? Do they hope, as all too often, to buy a few crumbs of status at someone else’s expense? Or have they found somewhere else to go?
I figured the minorities would be the most antagonistic toward Obama’s support of domestic spying programs. After all, they’re the ones who will be disproportionally affected by them.
Disapproval of the President does not mean you think the Republicans would be better. All it means is you find the President a disappointment. As it chanced, in the last election I was able to vote for the Green candidate since there was no chance the Republican candidate was going to lose here in Texas.
I agree with robertbaden, just because his approval has dived with the working class doesn’t mean they are going to jump to the Republicans, but it could be an indicator of sufficient anger that a 3rd party candidate might actually become viable in the near future (could still be a few decades away).
Really, mainstream Democrats are about where mainstream Republicans were in the early 80s, and the mainstream Republicans have become a bit too transparent in demonstrating that they are corporate lackeys. The working class is starting to finally understand that they really don’t have any political friends. This could be a boon for the Green party…although they might buy into the Libertarian BS.
The hidden message is that these defectors are ignorant racists, likely George Zimmerman supporters.
Obama’s standing among minorities, college educated whites, and affluent whites has actually improved
Not here.
I’d guess a lot of his ‘support’ is based on the idea that the alternative is worse. Which is true but that hardly counts as support.
Why does anyone think this has any meaning at all? Obama cannot run for President again, and cannot be removed. What people think on idiot polls is useless gasbagging.