Romney's shrinking pool of voters - the white male
he is running out of demographics to claim a lock on
http://news.yahoo.com/romney-relies-shrinking-pool-white-male-votes-050409581.html;_ylt=Age6UBlo3.Xi8cejnZ9ocQRsnwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTQxaDVxMnNlBG1pdANUaWNrZXQgTW9zYWljBHBrZwMwM2NlNWZmNi04MzVjLTNhM2QtYjAzZS1kMjEzNGVhMzc0YmMEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhTW9zYWljTGlzdExQQ0EEdmVyAzBjMzJlYmQxLTEzNjMtMTFlMi05ZmVjLWFlOTg2ZGRjNDBlNQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTI0YXYyNGh0BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3xlbGVjdGlvbnMyMDEyBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3
" For Romney, the support of white male voters offers the likeliest path to the presidency, even as betting on white men is proving an increasingly risky proposition for Republicans.
His reliance on that voter group becomes more acute as polls show him far behind with African-Americans, lagging badly among Hispanics, and at a disadvantage with women in many polls, despite overall poll numbers showing him essentially tied with Obama in recent days.
Ninety percent of Republican voters were white in 2008, according to exit polls, while white women tend to be more evenly split between the two parties.
The bulwark of white male support is slowly eroding. For decades, each presidential election has offered a smaller pool of white voters. That puts pressure on Romney to secure a greater share than previous Republican presidential nominees of the shrinking proportion of the electorate made up by white men.
Adding to Romney's electoral challenge: white male voters are more conservative and describe their views in ways increasingly different from the rest of the population, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. That trend stretches a candidate who must simultaneously retain his base and increase the diversity of his supporters.
White male voters currently pose challenges for both campaigns. A smaller percentage of likely white male voters said it preferred Obama than voted for him in 2008. At the same time, a smaller percentage of white male voters also favors Romney than it did John McCain in his losing effort four years ago.
If Romney does not improve on McCain's performance among white men, the electorate's second largest voting demographic after white women, he will likely repeat McCain's fate, pollsters and demographers said. Obama faces similar odds: a huge dip in white male support could spell the end of his time in office.
According to Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted October 1 to October 7, likely white male voters favored Romney 55.5 percent to 31.9 percent. Six percent of likely male voters said they were undecided. (For a graphic and poll details, please click here http://bit.ly/SMtn5N)
Romney's advantage over Obama exceeds McCain's, but falls short of his fellow Republican's total share of the white male vote. In 2008, McCain outpaced Obama among white male voters 57 percent to 41 percent, according to exit polls.
"The fact that (Romney) is right in line with McCain does mean he has work to do," said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark"
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