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The chatter has stepped up a notch. Speculation has begun in earnest. Fresh battle lines are being drawn. And, political pundits have billed it as one of the most tightly contested races to run. So, can Barack Obama emerge from turmoil to capture an historic second term? Or, will he follow George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and become just the fourth one term US President since World War II?
Whilst history is on his side, it appears that much of the US populace is not. Obama’s presidency has been hamstrung by continuing economic woes, unrelentingly and unpopular international conflicts, and accusations of socialism over attempts to overhaul an ailing health system.
Many feel that amidst the turmoil, Obama has failed to deliver on his election platform of ‘hope’ and ‘change’.
And, recent pronouncements requiring Catholic-run schools and hospitals to provide free contraception to workers have earned the wrath of the vast, and politically influential, Catholic community. The Republicans have accused Obama of being “hostile to people of faith”.
So, has Obama done enough, or far too much, to win 2012’s race to the White House? Well, to quote my Dad: “Past performance is the best indicator of future performance.” On that basis, let’s analyze where Obama won and lost voter support at the ballot box in 2008 to help determine this year’s outcome.
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Today’s data visualization and data analysis is brought to you by: Yellowfin; now making Business Intelligence even easier.
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Roper Center (Data based on survey by Edison Media Research/Mitofsky International for the National Election Pool (ABC News, Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News). Sample of 18,018 voters consisted of 15,640 voters as they left the voting booths on Election Day November 4, 2008 and a telephone absentee/early voters survey of 2,378 respondents conducted October 24-November 2, 2008.)
NOTE: Percentages do not add up to 100. We attribute this to marginal errors in the voting and / or data collation processes, or where marginal independent candidates received votes.