McCain voters defecting to Obama are older white males

[bushisanidiot]

HAHA! Love it!

http://news.yahoo.com/mccain-voters-defecting-obama-older-white-males-051258438.html

&quot Reuters) - In today's highly polarized political environment it is somewhat surprising to find voters who backed John McCain in 2008 and now support President Barack Obama, but they exist.

Roughly 5 percent of respondents in Reuters/Ipsos polls said they chose the Republican contender in 2008 and will switch to Obama in 2012. This number peaked at around 9 percent two separate times over the summer, according to data collected since January.

Who are these defectors?

Jeff Waltrip, 56, is a retired electrician and retail worker who has voted Republican all his life. But in his view Obama "has done a good job with what he was left with, and I truly believe that allowing Mitt Romney in there is going to make the world a whole lot worse than it is now." Waltrip said he liked the Republican ticket in 2008 because McCain is a veteran and because Sarah Palin "made me laugh."

The McCain-to-Obama switchers are 55 percent male, and 34 percent of them are 55 or older. (Overall, Obama trails Romney 34 percent to 52 percent among white men over 50.) About 72 percent of them are white."

[VirginiaTarheel]

1. Why do Dems rarely make ads featuring Republicans voting for Democratic candidates?

Repubs love to make ads showing how Democrats or people who once voted Democratic are now voting Repub. Here in Virgina, an ad is running featuring a woman who voted for Obama in 2008 but now voting for Romney. I think these ads are very effective with so-called independents and undecided voters.

[obamanut2012]

2. My semi-Teabagger/racist uncle is one of those

And, for the same reasons.

[whttevrr]

3. I was a Republican...

I was disgusted by the primary. And, I have been disgusted by what congress has done to this country for political gain. They did not gain anything. They lost a lot of republicans. I cannot believe the disrespect republicans have displayed toward our President.

I have been calling myself an 'independent' since Bush got his second term, but was still registered as a Republican when I went to vote in the Primary. There was no one in the polling place when I went to vote. The guy checking me in called over to the guy handing out the ballots and said: "He's a Republican." And I felt shame. I felt Real shame, I felt like I did something creepy or stole candy from a kid. It was weird. I looked over my shoulder to make sure no one heard what he called me.

I was going to stay registered as a Republican to counter vote in primaries and use the mail pieces to find out who to vote against. But when someone called me a Republican, I was too embarrassed to be in that party.

I changed my voter registration that very same day to American Independent. Until I found out what they represent. WTF!?

http://whateverworks4you.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-american-independent.html

I wonder how many people registered with the American independents thinking they were becoming an independent. I had to re-register and went undeclared. I have my mail-in ballot, but I may go vote in person... I am voting for Obama.

I am disgusted by what the Republican Party has become. I am white. I know what racists say when they think no one of color is listening. I also let them know that they are ignorant. After a while, new acquaintances learn not to talk that shit around me. I do not think I will ever vote for another republican ever again.

[teabaggersarestupid]

4. Good for you!

I wish others could be as introspective as yourself and not feel an obligation to remain with a Party out of blind loyalty. It's one thing to not like Obama, but how the hell can anyone support Romney?

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Welcome. You're in for an interesting trip.

I went through the same passage from (proto-Libertarian) to Republican after I got back from Vietnam. Then, once I made the first step, I began discovering how wrong my youthfully confident views had been on a lot of things.

Actually, as I read modern political psychology, I find that I never did have the makings of a good Republican, in that my tolerance for ambiguity was way too high, and even as a "hard-core" naive Republican kid, I supported the Civil Rights movement, ACLU, etc., so I guess the change wasn't that hard for me once I started on the path.

I think the same will be true for you. You have already displayed the independence of mind that is the hallmark of a good leftist. Despite what the Right says about us, for the most part we oppose arbitrary authority and trust & respect each other. We also tend to be a bit more willing to change our views when evidence compels us to do so, and we have no particular orthodoxy to enforce.

You can pretty much pick & choose your stance on issues & values as long as you keep in mind the welfare of others as well as your own. And, despite our wild religious differences, we pretty much adhere to the notion that "the greatest of these is love" as the guiding principle of our morality.

[MiniMe]

6. Social Security and Medicare

That is important to that age group

[whttevrr]

7. I fall in the under 55 group and my thought is...

WTF!?

I've paid into FICA for more than 20 years and I get a voucher? Screw you Romney / Ryan!