The Wheels Fall Off for Romney as Obama Leads with NASCAR Fans, 48%-41%

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Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:23 am

According to a new Zogby Poll the wheels are close to coming off the Romney campaign. President Obama leads Mitt Romney among NASCAR fans, 48%-41%.

The Zogby poll revealed that President Obama has a seven point lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters, 48%-41%, and even larger nine point lead when all candidates are included, 49%-40%. The real shocker is that the poll found the president doing very well with some traditionally thought of Republican voting blocs.

Obama leads in almost every region of the country, and only trailed Romney by six points in the South, 41%-47%. Among voters who shop at Wal-Mart on a weekly basis, Romney’s lead is within the poll’s 3.4% margin of error, 45%-42%. Obama leads with voters who are or who have a family member in the military, 54%-39%. Most surprisingly, Obama only trails Romney by seven points with those who consider themselves born again Christians, 40%-47%. The president also leads with NASCAR fans, 48%-41%.

Romney’s problems with NASCAR fans could go back to when he mocked them while attending the Daytona 500 this year. The New York Times reported Romney’s Daytona experience in the most classic of ways, “But the crowd initially booed Mr. Romney, who occasionally struck a discordant note, as when he approached a group of fans wearing plastic ponchos. ‘I like those fancy raincoats you bought,’ he said. ‘Really sprung for the big bucks.’ And when asked if he was a fan of the sport, he mentioned that ‘I have some great friends who are Nascar team owners.'”

Romney mocked NASCAR fans, and then he followed it up by mocking the 47%, some of which I am sure also follow NASCAR. Overall, Romney’s poor showing with NASCAR fans reflects his inability to connect with people. NASCAR is a national sport now, so it isn’t just Southern white people watching anymore. Romney’s NASCAR fail was a sign of a much bigger problem. Romney has tried to suck up to NASCAR fans, but it looks like his insincere advances are being rebuffed.

The fact that President Obama is doing so well with born again voters isn’t much of a surprise. Romney has struggled to win over the South from day one of his campaign. It was the South that rejected Romney all through the Republican primary process and kept the candidacies of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum alive. Less than two weeks ago Reuters ran a story about Romney’s religion and his wealth. Romney has struggled to convince born again voters to support him, and a sizable percentage of them are supporting President Obama.

President Obama is leading Romney by large margins with Independents (46%-32%), Hispanics (68%-28%), African-Americans (93%-0%), and moderates (60%-26%). Romney needs to win big with men (Romney +5), seniors (Romney +3), and especially what has been traditionally thought of as the usually conservative Wal-Mart shopping (Romney +3), NASCAR watching voters (Obama +7). In this poll, Romney had no area of support large enough to offset Obama’s margins with other blocs of voters.

In short, things are bad for Romney.

How bad?

The born again and NASCAR crowds are flirting with dumping him for Obama.

Mitt Romney, NASCAR fans just aren’t that into you.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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