[Vision2020] Wealthy voters deliver for Romney

[Art Deco]

*Washington Post*


Wealthy voters deliver for Romney A funny thing happened on the way to *Mitt
Romney*’s victories in Michigan last week and Ohio on Tuesday:

Rich people showed up to vote. A lot.

Exit polls in both Michigan and Ohio show voters making more than $100,000
per year turning out in much higher numbers this year than they did in
2008. And in both cases, they might well have provided the difference for
Romney.

In 2008, 22 percent of GOP primary voters in Michigan made at least
$100,000, and that group made up 21 percent of the electorate in Ohio,
according to exit polls.

This year, 33 percent of voters in Michigan made that much money, while 30
percent of Ohio voters did.

In both cases, the number of wealthy voters grew by about 50 percent — a
pretty stunning increase in that demographic over just a four-year span.

And an argument could be made that the increase put Romney over the top.

In both states, Romney won this demographic by 14 points but didn’t win
among any other income demographic. And given he won by such small margins
overall — 1 point in Ohio and 3 points in Michigan — it’s not unreasonable
to think he would have lost those states without the uptick in wealthy
voters.

We’ve written before on this blog about how Romney struggles with less
well-off voters<http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/U38ITL/5CJEDS/GDT9LA/13BM9P/5CZGUX/HK/h>—
a problem that has undoubtedly been exacerbated by some not-so-helpful
gaffes<http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/U38ITL/5CJEDS/GDT9LA/13BM9P/C5K28S/HK/h>showing
the candidate to be out-of-touch with average Americans.

The data from Ohio and Michigan, which are generally more blue-collar
electorates, suggest that hasn’t really changed for Romney. Along with very
conservative voters and born-again Christians, working class voters
continue to balk at Romney’s candidacy.

The good news for him is that just enough wealthy people are showing up to
overcome that — at least for now.
**
-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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