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How To Title: Democratic Coalition Crumbles, Exit Polls Say Amid deep pessimism about the economy, the coalition of voters that gave Democrats control of Congress in 2006 appears to have fractured. Preliminary exit polls showed that the party lost ground to Republicans in Tuesday's midterm elections among women, middle-income workers, whites, seniors and independent voters. Driving the shift: broad anxiety over the economy, as well as skepticism of big government and opposition to signature Democratic Party policy achievements, such as President Barack Obama's economic-stimulus package and the health-care overhaul. The change, as portrayed by preliminary results of voter surveys conducted Tuesday, helps explain why Republicans were expected to retake the House Tuesday and make gains in the Senate. Preliminary exit polls showed that the party lost ground to Republicans in Tuesday's midterm elections among women, middle-income workers, whites, seniors and independent voters. Driving the shift: broad anxiety over the economy, as well as skepticism of big government and opposition to signature Democratic Party policy achievements, such as President Barack Obama's economic-stimulus package and the health-care overhaul. The change, as portrayed by preliminary results of voter surveys conducted Tuesday, helps explain why Republicans were expected to retake the House Tuesday and make gains in the Senate. Republican gains among the electorate appeared to be broad, diminishing Democrats' hold over large voting groups. In 2006, when Democrats took control of the House, the party held a 12-point advantage among women, exit polls that year showed. That lead now appears to have been all but erased. The shift appears to be even larger among white women. The parties were evenly divided four years ago among white women, but on Tuesday a decisive majority of that group went for the GOP. Among seniors, the two parties were at parity in 2006; Republicans now hold a large advantage among voters age 65 and older. Equally damaging for the Democrats, seniors—who were heavily courted by Republicans this year with ads attacking Mr. Obama's health-care overhaul—appear to represent a larger share of the electorate than four years ago. Democrats also have loosened their hold among middle-income voters. A two-point edge in 2006 among voters with income between $50,000 and $75,000 a year has turned into a deficit, the preliminary data showed. And a five-point advantage among those with income of $75,000 to $100,000 has turned into a more substantial deficit. Together, those two income groups make up a third of the 2010 electorate, the early data showed. In addition, in a sign of how Democrats may be losing their foothold with the working class, voters without college degrees who backed the party in 2006 have shifted back to the Republicans this year, the early numbers showed. The preliminary numbers showed anything but a mandate for the GOP, however. Both parties were viewed unfavorably. And voters appeared split about how the new Congress should address the country's economic woes, disagreeing on whether lawmakers should make it their top priority to cut the budget deficit or to spend more to spur job growth. Still, economic fears, and skepticism of Mr. Obama, appear to have sent voters en masse to the Republicans. A strong majority said the economy was the most important issue facing the U.S.—and, by far, most of those voters backed the GOP. Likewise, an overwhelming number of voters said they were worried about the country's economy, and a strong majority of them supported GOP candidates. Many voters said they were financially worse off than they were two years ago. Many said they feared life would be worse for the next generation. Independent voters, a group the Democrats won by a substantial margin four years ago, also appear to have swung to the GOP. For Mr. Obama, winning re-election may require piecing the Democratic coalition back together. Core Democratic voters who turned out in big numbers in 2008 for Mr. Obama, such as African-Americans and Hispanics, did not appear especially mobilized nationally on Tuesday. Those groups had been heavily courted by the White House to turn out this year. Exit polls in 2008 showed intense voter optimism about Mr. Obama's ability to govern. Tuesday showed how quickly the voters have changed their minds. A narrow majority said the president's policies would hurt the country, according to the preliminary data. A plurality said they voted in opposition to him. And while Mr. Obama has campaigned on the robust role government can play in people's lives, a majority of Tuesday's voters said government was doing too many things. Election officials reported that turnout was moderate to high in states with high-interest races for Senate and governor. Michael McDonald, a public-affairs professor at George Mason University in Virginia, who tracks early voting, is predicting that 41.3% of registered voters will turn out in this election—almost equal to the 41.1% of 1994, when Republicans took control of the U.S. House. Mr. McDonald said it would be a high midterm turnout, but not as great as the 1966 midterms, when 48.7% of voters cast ballots. Write to Peter Wallsten at peter.wallsten@wsj.com and Danny Yadron at danny.yadron@wsj.com
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#1. To: WhiteSands (#0)
Sweet Jeesus Fucking Christ. And someone got paid 6 figure salaries to come up with this Brilliance? Anyone, see Feingold, who tried to point out how great ObamaCare is/has been/will be/ got taken out and shot. Anyone mentioning any kind of 'economic stimulus package' and not using the words 'fraud', prosecution was summarily relieved of command. "women, middle-income workers, whites, seniors and independent voters" Blacks, Hispanics, the only ones left. And Gays even held their nose and voted on very strict grounds for certain Reps(the ones who you can tell are gay;}.
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