According to Pew Research, Mitt Romney is the most unpopular presidential candidate we’ve seen going back to at least 1988. He’s more unpopular than Poppy Bush and Bob Dole were the month before they went down to resounding defeat. Only 18% of undecided voters have a favorable view of Romney. It’s incredible.
But, you know, the real story, according to Politico is that the president is weak in the Deep South, especially among white working class voters. There’s a story there, don’t get me wrong, but there is also a story in New England. What’s more surprising? That a black man from Hawaii, New York, Boston, and Chicago is unpopular in the rural South, or that a Yankee businessman can’t even compete in New Hampshire?
Why do working class white dudes have a problem with the Democratic Party? Why do they prefer to watch Fox News? I don’t really know if there is a simple answer to those questions. I don’t think it matters a whole lot. It’s a shame that Democrats are having a rough time in Appalachia and throughout the Deep South, but it is the Republican Party that is discovering that they can’t find a road to 270 electoral votes anymore. It used to be that the Democrats had a lock-hold on Congress but struggled to win the White House. Things have turned around now. The Dems will struggle to control the House as long as they can’t make some inroads in the South, but they’ve got a lock on the White House for the foreseeable future.
