Big Surprise: Polled Voters Respond Negatively to Romney's “47” Percent Remarks
A new Gallup poll shows that 36% of registered voters are less likely to vote for living, breathing political embarrassment and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after hearing his incredibly obtuse "47%" comments. Of course, twenty percent of voters all but admitted they were awful by saying they were now more likely to vote for Romney after his remarks, which actually seems low, all things considered.
Before Jay-Z and Beyonce rush off to pen their victory song, some context from Gallup:
A substantial majority of Americans have already made up their minds about their vote choice, so it is likely that many of those who claim to be "more likely" or "less likely" to vote for Romney are, in essence, indicating that the comments reinforced their pre-existing vote choice. This may be particularly true of Democrats, who have the strongest immediate reactions, with more than two-thirds saying the comments make them less likely to vote for Romney. Given that Gallup Daily tracking data show that only 5% of Democrats are voting for Romney anyway, it is unlikely that these sentiments from Democrats will significantly change the course of the election.
But what about independent voters? Romney is pretty fucked in that department. 29% of independent voters – the ones Romney mentioned courting in his fundraising speech – now say they're less likely to vote for Romney while 15% say they're now more likely to vote for him. Amazingly, a whopping 53% say the remarks won't affect their vote.
Related: Romney gave a speech today in Atlanta in which he made the hilarious claim that he's the better candidate for America's poor.
"The question of this campaign is not who cares about the poor and the middle class. I do. He does," Romney said at an Atlanta fundraiser. "The question is who can help the poor and the middle class. I can. He can't."
..."I know that I'm not going to get 100 percent of the vote and my campaign will focus on those people we think we can bring in to support me, but this is a campaign about helping people who need help," Romney said.
"My campaign is about the 100 percent in America," he said.
Haha, yes. I'm sure everyone believes you, Mitt. Good job.
[Image via AP]