Obama voters are having a case of buyer’s remorse, according to a new USA Today/Suffolk University poll in six states with key Senate races this November. The number of likely voters “who can remember voting” for President Obama has turned out to be lower than the actual number that did, USA Today reports. And of those who confessed to helping reelect the president in 2012, one in seven said they now regret their decision.
Of the six states in the polling, only Kansas featured as many likely voters who remembered voting Obama as those who actually did (at 38 percent apiece.)
In the other states, it broke down in the following manner.
Arkansas had 37 percent Obama voters during the 2012 election, but now only 35 percent actually admit to it. Colorado’s percentage point drop was even steeper, from 51 percent in 2012 to 46 percent today. Iowa matched this with a drop of 52 percent to 47 percent.
Michigan fell the most, going from 54 percent to 48 percent, and North Carolina dropped from 48 percent to 43 percent.
USA Today didn’t stop there. Of the individuals who admitted to voting for Obama but now regret it, they shared the following responses.
Lois Rice, 61, Colorado: “I voted for Obama, but quite frankly I’ve been disappointed with his handling of the ISIS (Islamic State) issue and just some general economic issues.”
Kristopher Lane, 21, Iowa: “I’m kind of upset that I did vote for him… I was kind of pushed towards voting for him by someone I know.” Lane also expressed concern that the Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, has turned out worse than promised.
Charles Franklin of Marquette University Law School attempted to explain the results.
“Voters who defect from their party to vote for the winner are more likely to ‘forget’ this over time and to report a vote more consistent with their current party identification. Reports of past vote also correlate with current preferences.”
Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune added that Obama voters may just be tired of seeing the President after six years.
“After six years in office, any president has been seen and heard too many times to satisfy the public’s relentless appetite for something fresh and new,” Page wrote.
What do you think, readers? First of all, if you were one of the Obama voters who ushered him into a second term, have you/do you regret your decision? And are these poll numbers a bad sign for Democrats in the battleground states next month?
