In Colorado Focus Group, Obama Voters Disillusioned
Last night, veteran Democratic pollster Peter Hart conducted a focus
group featuring 12 undecided, ticket-splitting voters in Colorado, which illustrated the tough
challenge President Obama faces in winning a second term. He's lost significant ground among these
swing voters: Ten of the participants voted for Obama in 2008; only three of
them said they leaned towards re-electing him in 2012. In an initial survey taking leaners into
account, Mitt Romney led Obama 5-3, with four completely undecided.
Listening to the feedback from the group, it was striking
how many of them have grown disillusioned from their own expectations set by
Obama's soaring rhetoric from 2008, and the less-inspiring reality that
transpired.
After being shown footage of a campaign speech by Obama, the
prevailing sentiment was that the president was a slick salesman, but his words
didn't match his actions.
"I got duped. I fell under his spell. What he's done with
the car industry is the only real success," said Patrick Allen, a 27-year-old
health care consultant, who voted for Obama in 2008. "I feel like I was
somewhat lied to."
"He came in as a wild card... I haven't seen him do anything
extraordinary," said Kelly Capra, 49, a United Airlines customer service
representative who said she'd vote for him if he "could do something huge, like
really lower the price of gas."
Most believed the economy was slowly improving, but not at a
fast enough pace for them to justify supporting him again. And several expressed concern that the
economy could again head into a freefall, opinions shaped by the pessimistic
economic reports in recent weeks.
Almost unanimously, the participants said they'd prefer to
hang out with Obama over Romney, but no one said that would shape their vote in
November. It's a sign that even if Obama holds a significant edge on personal
likability, it's unlikely to translate into many votes if they view his job
performance unfavorably.
Romney was an unknown to most of the participants. Most of
the pure undecided voters were critical of Obama, but said they were unfamiliar
with Romney. Only three said they knew anything about Bain Capital. His wealth, business background, Mormonism
and being a family man all came up when prompted for free association
connections. But it was clear that their
perceptions were far from formed.
Shown some of Romney's campaign speeches, participants
commented that he was short on specifics and sounded like a politician.
"I identify with Romney's background, but Obama still has a
lot of good ideas out there that haven't quite comes to pass, and I don't know
what Romney has out there," said Stephanie Rydalch, 38, a state care provider,
leaning towards supporting Romney.
The bottom line: The reactions from the focus group explain
why Obama is going hard-negative against Romney - it may be the campaign's only way to
win. Most of the participants sounded
dissatisfied with president and were ready to make a change, but didn't know
much about the challenger, either.
The focus group was the fourth of a series of eight being commissioned
by the Annenberg Policy
Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
1 comment:
Hey here is a song you may want to consider for this... It's an old song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W7COZEhmeA
Spellbound - Siouxsie and the Banshees
From the cradle bars
comes a beckoning voice
it sends you spinning
you have no choice...
You hear laughter
cracking through the walls
it sends you spinning
you have no choice
Following the footsteps
of a rag doll dance
we are entranced
Spellbound
And don't forget
when your elders forget
to say their prayers
take them by the legs
and throw them down the stairs
When you think
your toys have gone beserk
it's an illusion
you cannot shirk
you hear laughter
cracking through the walls
it sends you spinning
you have no choice
Following the footsteps
of a rag doll dance
we are entranced
Spellbound
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