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Poll: Obama Ties McCain Among Less-Educated Voters

By Eric Kleefeld - July 9, 2008, 11:25AM

A new Gallup polling analysis suggests that Barack Obama is overcoming any previous difficulties he had with less-educated voters, defying a piece of conventional wisdom that was bandied about during the primaries and afterward.

Back in March, Obama trailed John McCain by a 47%-40% margin among voters with only a high-school education or less. But in June's aggregate polling, they were tied 43%-43%. From Gallup's analysis:

Obama's gains among less-educated voters are surely a positive sign for his campaign, and certainly help allay some of the concerns about his electability, specifically regarding his struggles in appealing to this core Democratic group. While he is on track to do less well than other recent Democratic presidential candidates among voters with less formal education, his great appeal to college-educated voters (in particular, those whose schooling continued after getting a college degree) helps to offset that.

And another media narrative bites the dust.

Comments (20)

Yes, but he still trails in one vital demographic: working class voters who think he's a radical Muslim in disguise.

Posted by middlenamesareseriousbusiness
July 9, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink

Don't forget pet owners.

Posted by hyperRevue
July 9, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink

Dogs can smell secret Muslim

Posted by middlenamesareseriousbusiness
July 9, 2008 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink

LOL.

Posted by Publicola Hussein
July 9, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink

And another media narrative bites the dust.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Media narratives never bite the dust. They don't even fade away. They just stay lodged in the minds of political commentators for all eternity.

After Obama crushes McCain among the Latino demographic, Cokie Roberts will still be talking about how he has a problem with Latinos because he, you know, didn't win them in the primaries.

Posted by CT Voter
July 9, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink

Eric, why dont you go the whole way and find out how Obama is doing against McCain amongst
Bi-racial,right-handed,TV-watching,sport-loving,slightly eccentric americans whose passports have been renewed at least once in the last ten years?

Posted by Phoebus_king
July 9, 2008 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink

50%-50% (assuming you're voting for Obama...)

Posted by SFCWallace
July 9, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink

I work in state government in Tennessee and have had more than one person assert to me that Obama is a Muslim and that they will therefore not be voting for him.

Posted by khodges
July 9, 2008 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink

I work in Milwaukee and a co-worker has said that to me. She's a crazy bitch, obviously.

Posted by hyperRevue
July 9, 2008 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink

Obama is a Muslim and that they will therefore not be voting for him.

I think this probably means: Obama is a black person and therefore, I'm not going to vote for him. The Muslim thing is just a convenient cover-up, if you ask me.

Posted by CT Voter
July 9, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply | Permalink

Yep; being Muslim is the new black.

Posted by BruceBanner
July 9, 2008 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink

Perhaps the response to "I'm not voting for a Muslim" might be -

"Well, I'm sure you know that Obama is a Christian. So what you must mean is that you won't vote for someone who isn't white."

Posted by Wallace Bob
July 9, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink

There's a saying that goes....
Every country has its own fair share of fools

Posted by Phoebus_king
July 9, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink

A Muslim with a radical Christian pastor to boot.

Posted by MASON
July 9, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink

And another media narrative bites the dust.

Uh, this should actually read "another media narrative that TPM gleefully flogged like a festering, maggot-infested horse carcass bites the dust."

Posted by Lamont Williams
July 9, 2008 11:51 AM | Reply | Permalink

Oh sweet Jesus....what will Chris Matthews talk about now that the "regular folks" are going Obama's way?

Posted by dweb823
July 9, 2008 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink

OT, but I think this is a story the TPM and TPM_EC should be pushing to give it more life (even if it comes from the Politico):

The endorsement could hardly have been stronger. On Monday, John McCain’s campaign released a statement signed by 300 economists who “enthusiastically support” his “Jobs for America” economic plan, providing a heavyweight testimonial to the presumptive Republican nominee’s “broad and powerful economic agenda.”
There’s just one problem. Upon closer inspection, it seems a good many of those economists don’t actually support the whole of McCain’s economic agenda. And at least one doesn’t even support McCain for president.

In interviews with more than a dozen of the signatories, Politico found that, far from embracing McCain’s economic plan, many were unfamiliar with — or downright opposed to — key details. While most of those contacted by Politico had warm feelings about McCain, many did not want to associate themselves too closely with his campaign and its policy prescriptions.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11618.html

Posted by Publicola Hussein
July 9, 2008 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink