Romney shown to enjoy some support among low-income voters: poll
- ZhiLinFei
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E-mail Xinhua, September 19, 2012
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- It might be a miscalculation for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney when he claimed in a secretly-recorded video that the low-income Americans are stubborn supporters of President Barack Obama, as a poll released Tuesday shows Romney in fact enjoys some support among those voters.
The Gallup Daily tracking poll, conducted from Aug. 27-Sept. 16, shows that, while income is correlated with voter support, it is by no means a total determinant of vote choice.
Though Obama has a substantial voting edge over Romney among low-income Americans, Romney still gets about a third of the vote among those whose household incomes are less than 24,000 U.S. dollars a year.
Though Romney does better among the rich voters, Obama still gets the support of more than 40 percent of Americans who make 180,000 dollars a year or more.
Neither Obama nor Romney rises above 60 percent support among either those with incomes less than 24,000 dollars a year or those with incomes 120,000 dollars a year and more, the poll indicates.
In the video clip, Romney told a group of rich donors at a fundraiser that Obama's base supporters -- 47 percent of Americans -- are people who pay no income tax and depend on government services.
Romney added that his job was not to worry about those people, a claim dismissed by the Obama campaign as proof that the wealthy former businessman is indeed "out of touch" with common citizens.
However, Romney in fact has the support of 34 percent of those who make less than 24,000 dollars a year in household income. He also enjoys a 12-percent lead over Obama among those aged 70 to 79, and a 7-percent lead among those aged 40 to 49, according to the poll.
But among the low-income voters aged 65 and older who earn 24,000 dollars a year or less, Obama leads Romney by 49 percent to 43 percent, it finds.
By writing off his supporters among the low-income groups as certain Obama voters, Romney could further erode his support base at a time when he is already trailing Obama in polls. Enditem
