Today on The Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington cites Project Vote’s recent research memo, First-Time Voters in the 2008 Election, to discuss the dangers President Obama faces by “swerving to the middle” on economic issues.
“According to a new study by Project Vote,” Huffington writes, “new voters made up 12 percent of the electorate in 2008. And they went for Obama by a margin of two to one. That translated into 10 million first-time votes for Obama — who won by a margin of 9.5 million.”
So what is Obama doing to reach these increasingly unlikely voters? One thing they’re not particularly interested in is reducing the deficit at the expense of growing the economy and creating jobs. As the Project Vote study notes: “individuals who voted for the first time in 2008 strongly favor an active role for government in ensuring economic fairness and educational opportunity.”
For instance, 79 percent of those 2008 first-timers think the economy should be boosted by increasing spending on public works and infrastructure. And 86 percent support more spending on public education.
Huffington reiterates what Project Vote research has shown: that the 2008 voters who elected this president—a significant portion of whom were African American, Latino, and low-income Americans—overwhelmingly support a stronger role for government and more progressive economic policies. According to First-Time Voters in the 2008 Election, new voters favor spending on education and infrastructure at higher rates than the national average. A similar pattern emerges in their strong support for raising the minimum wage, and for an active role for government in regulating the economy.
Project Vote’s September 2010 report, What Happened to Hope and Change: A Poll of 2008 Voters, showed similar levels of support among the broader 2008 electorate for increased spending on job creation, infrastructure, and public education; increasing spending on income security programs; and increasing taxes on investment income. Yet, as Huffington points out, these voters are not seeing their priorities reflected in the government they elected:
But instead of audaciously enlarging the debate and taking his case directly to the American people—who, in poll after poll, say they would prefer the government to focus on jobs instead of deficit reduction—Obama has dutifully accepted the narrow range allowed to him by the conventional wisdom. That’s hardly the kind of leadership that inspired those 10 million people to vote for the first time in their lives…
For every independent or unlikely voter who is actually obsessed with the deficit, there are millions of potential voters waiting to reward with their vote a president who is willing to take bold and decisive action to create jobs and grow the economy. Or punish him by staying home on Election Day 2012.
Though Huffington directs her message to President Obama, clearly it is a lesson that candidates from all parties should take to heart in 2012.
Read the full article on the Huffington Post site here.
Read Project Vote’s research memo First-Time Voters in the 2008 Election here.
Read Project Vote’s poll, What Happened to Hope and Change? here.