Registered LGBT
voters favor Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain 68%
to 10% in the presidential election, with 3% of GLBT adults
supporting Ralph Nader and 1% choosing Bob Barr.
Another 15% of LGBT voters said they were still
undecided on a candidate.
Among all
registered U.S. voters, Obama retains an eight-point lead
over McCain in the latest Harris Poll, virtually
unchanged since the nine-point lead he enjoyed in
early July.
The latest Harris
Poll, conducted August 1-7, surveyed 2,834 U.S. adults
online, of whom 178 self-identified as gay, lesbian,
bisexual, or transgender. Further demographic analysis
yielded the following results according to Harris
Interactive:
Age:
Obama's lead is critically dependent on his 33-point
lead among "Echo Boomers," people under
32 -- but they are usually are the least likely
generation to actually vote. If they do not vote very
heavily in November, it would hurt Obama's
chances. McCain leads among "Matures,"
those over 62, by nine points, and they are the generation
that is usually the most likely to vote;
Gender: There is
currently no gender gap in this
election. Obama's lead is almost the same
among men (+8 points) and women (+10 points);
Race: Obama
currently wins virtually all the African-American vote (+91)
and most of the crucial Hispanic vote (+25) but loses the
white vote by eight points. In the past whites were
more likely to vote than blacks or Hispanics;
Education: In
many elections, those with only a high school education or
less vote heavily Democratic; in this poll, McCain actually
leads by four points. This is the group where
Obama's race is most likely to hurt him. Obama
leads among those with some college (+16), college graduates
(+14) and has his biggest lead among those with
postgraduate education (+30). However, because more
educated people are more likely to vote, these
findings are not good news for McCain;
Income: There is
only a modest correlation between income and voting
intentions. Obama leads among all income groups, with a
17-point lead among those with less than $35,000 and
six points among those earning $75,000 or more;
Party
Identification: Unsurprisingly, most Democrats prefer Obama
(+72) and most Republicans favor McCain (+71). The
crucial independent vote currently tilts toward Obama
by 11 points;
Political
Philosophy: Conservatives favor McCain by 52 points and
liberals favor Obama by 73 points. The very important
moderate vote, a larger group than either
conservatives or liberals, currently prefers Obama
over McCain by 19 points. (The Advocate)
