Poll: Age and smoking bigger detriments than gender or race to voters

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Poll: Age Important to Voters
Candidate's Being Over Age 72 or a Smoker Are Bigger Detriments Than Gender or Race to Voters
By Jon Cohen and Jennifer Agiesta
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Campaign 2008 has raised the question of whether voters will hesitate to back a major female or black presidential contender, but at this early stage voters seem to weigh other criteria more heavily in determining which candidate they might favor, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

According to voters, being over the age of 72, a Mormon, twice divorced or a smoker all are bigger drags on a candidate's support than is gender or race. In this poll, nearly six in 10 Americans said they would be less likely to vote for an older candidate, three in 10 less likely to vote for a Mormon, a quarter less likely to support a candidate with two divorces and 21 percent less likely to back someone who smokes cigarettes. And for each of these, those turned off by the attribute greatly outnumbered those who said they would be more likely to support such a candidate. For example, while 58 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate older than 72, a scant 3 percent said they would be more likely to prefer such a candidate.

By contrast, 13 percent of voters said they would be less likely to support a woman and 6 percent said they would be less likely to support a black candidate -- numbers about equally offset by the percentages of people who said they would be more likely to support candidates with those attributes.

While the current slate of 2008 candidates features someone with each of the attributes that appear on balance to make voters uneasy -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) turns 72 in 2008, former governor Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) is a member of the Mormon church, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) is married to his third wife and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is trying to kick a tobacco habit -- it is unclear how these factors will play out as the Democratic and Republican nomination campaigns progress.

Issues may ultimately prove more important than these personal characteristics, and all elections in the end are match-ups between candidates who possess a range of characteristics, affiliations and experiences. As elsewhere, in politics much is relative....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/27/AR2007022700283.html

[kiahzero]

1. Survey bias probably has a significant impact

People, even anonymously, are hesitant to express racist or sexist views, which would lead to lower numbers in this survey.