Soft Bigotry, Meet Low Expectations

[babylonsister]

http://prospect.org/article/soft-bigotry-meet-low-expectations

Soft Bigotry, Meet Low Expectations

Jamelle Bouie

February 29, 2012

Mitt Romney "won" in Michigan because he didn't lose.

snip//

While Michigan settled the question of Romney’s place in the Republican presidential primary—he’s still the front-runner—it left a crucial part of the status quo in place: No one knows if Romney can actually appeal to conservative voters. The exit polls from last night suggest that it’s still a long journey for the former Massachusetts governor. Of the 30 percent of voters who described themselves as “very conservative,” half went for Santorum, while 36 percent gave their support to Romney. The only thing that kept Santorum from expanding his margin among those voters was Newt Gingrich, who earned 7 percent of their support. Had he dropped out, there’s no doubt that Santorum would have been the beneficiary.

In addition to his trouble with conservative voters, Romney is also on thin ice with white, working-class voters, who form a core part of the Republican coalition. Santorum did better among every group of voters who make less than $100,000 a year, while Romney cleaned house with higher-income voters, winning 46 percent of those who made between $100,000 and $200,000, and winning 55 percent of those who made $200,000 or more. Romney lost among Protestants, who gave 42 percent support to Santorum, and those who say that the religious beliefs of candidates matter “a great deal”—63 percent broke in favor of Santorum. These results bode poorly for Romney’s performance in the Southern Republican primaries, which will be dominated by conservative, religious, lower-income whites.

Romney’s three-point win is, in the end, another data point that supports the key takeaway of his entire candidacy: Mitt Romney is much, much weaker than anyone expected. His campaign performances are poor, his wins are dirty, and—win or lose—he leaves every state with more people who just don’t like him. There are plenty of other presidential candidates for which you could have said the same thing. But for a presidential hopeful, they aren’t the best company.

[MADem]

1. Well, considering the term is a GOP one, it's about time it finally got applied to them!

I wonder how many Republicans stayed home!

The description of Santorum is priceless in that piece:

... Santorum, whose shoestring operation has been underfunded since the beginning, and who continues to stand as one of the most unpopular politicians in America; his signature achievement as a public figure is an 18-point drubbing in the 2006 midterm elections, and a name synonymous with things the Prospect can’t print.