lotsa words and no pictures, so I hope you can keep up.
Independents Fueled G.O.P Gains
Democrats lost significant support Tuesday among nearly all demographic groups in a midterm election that was a referendum on President Obama and a Democratic-controlled Congress in a stubbornly weak economy.
Independent voters, who in 2006 mostly voted for Democrats and helped end the Republicans’ 12-year majorities in the House and Senate, this time turned just as strongly against Democrats, according to surveys of voters who were leaving polling places. Two other groups who recently supported Democrats — suburban residents and college graduates — also gave Republican Congressional candidates more votes this year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/us/03exit.html?_r=0
Young Voter Turnout Fell 60% from 2008 to 2010; Dems Won't Win in 2012 If the Trend Continues
Everyone knows that young voters were less enthused about the 2010 midterm elections than they were about the 2008 presidential election, when their votes powered Barack Obama to a landslide victory and gave Democrats big boosts in Congressional contests. But detailed studies of the election reveal that the decline in voting by Americans aged 18 to 29 was actually more serious than initially imagined. In 2008, polls showed that young people were overwhelmingly supportive of Obama and the Democrats. And they turned out in droves. According to the research group CIRCLE—The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement—which tracks civic engagement among young voters, 51 percent of 18- to-19-year-olds voted that year. In 2010, polls showed that young people were still supportive of Obama and the Democrats. But only 20.9 percent of them bothered to vote.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/156470/young-voter-turnout-fell-60-2008-2010-dems-wont-win-2012-if-trend-continues#
Independent Voters Favor GOP in 2010 Election Tracking
PRINCETON, NJ -- By an average 10 percentage-point margin since March, 45% to 35%, independent registered voters have consistently preferred the Republican to the Democrat when asked which congressional candidate they would vote for in their district. Independents' preference for Republicans has been generally consistent over this time, with the gap in favor of Republicans increasing slightly since March, from 8 to 12 points.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/141086/independent-voters-favor-gop-2010-election-tracking.aspx
Women, Independent Voters Show Biggest Swing From 2008
Women and independents took the biggest turn away from Democrats since the 2008 election, a Fox News analysis of exit polling from Tuesday's midterm vote shows.
In both demographic groups, the percent of eligible voters remained constant from 2008 to 2010. Women turnout was 53 percent, while 28 percent of registered independents voted.
But their preferences had a big impact on the GOP win. Whereas the gender gap played a major role in 2008 with women voting for Democrats 56 percent of the time compared to Republicans 42 percent of the time, in 2010 the split was 49-48 percent for Democrats to Republicans.
Likewise, independent voters supported Democrats 51 percent of the time compared to 43 percent of the time for Republicans in 2008. But in 2010, the Democrats garnered only 39 percent of the independent vote compared to 55 percent for the GOP.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/03/women-independent-voters-biggest-swing/
Pew Poll: Independent Voters Swing Right, Oppose Party Supported in 08
ABC News’ Amy Walter reports: The Pew Center for People and the Press today released an extensive and exhaustive look at independent voters, finding that “political independents now favor Republican candidates by about as large a margin as they backed Barack Obama in 2008 and congressional Democratic candidates four years ago.” Even more problematic for Democrats is the fact that independents, “who typically are not engaged by midterm elections, are now more likely than Democrats to say they are giving a lot of thought to this one.” But, the gains for the GOP among this group may be fleeting. First, their allegiance to party is very fluid. “Many of today’s independents were themselves partisans not so long ago," the report notes. "More than half of independents say they have been a Democrat (23%), a Republican (22%), or both (9%), in the past five years.” Moreover, these voters “do not have a strong allegiance to the GOP. Rather, they are motivated by highly negative feelings about the government’s performance and harsh judgments about the political status quo.” In other words, if the GOP disappoints them next year, they’d be just as happy to throw them out on their ear too. The poll was conducted Aug. 25-Sept. 6 among 2,816 registered voters, including 2,053 considered the most likely to vote on Nov. 2.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/09/pew-poll-independent-voters-swing-right-oppose-party-supported-in-08/
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