Parts of Obama coalition drifting toward GOP: Poll

NEW YORK - Critical parts of the coalition that delivered President Obama to the White House in 2008 and gave Democrats control of Congress in 2006 are switching their allegiance to the Republicans in the final phase of the mid-term Congressional elections, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Republicans have wiped out the advantage held by Democrats in recent election cycles among women, Roman Catholics, less affluent Americans and independents.

According to the poll, all of those groups broke for Obama in 2008 and for Congressional Democrats when they grabbed both chambers from the Republicans four years ago.

If women choose Republicans over Democrats in House races on Tuesday, it will be the first time they have done so since exit polls began tracking the breakdown in 1982.

The poll provides a pre-Election Day glimpse of a nation so politically disquieted and disappointed in its current trajectory that 57 percent of the registered voters surveyed said they were more willing to take a chance this year on a candidate with little previous political experience.

While almost nine in ten respondents said they considered government spending to be an important issue, and more than half said they favored smaller government offering fewer services, there was no consensus on what programs should be cut.

There was clear opposition to addressing one of the government’s biggest long-term challenges - the growing costs of paying social security benefits - by raising the retirement age or reducing benefits for future retirees.

The poll also shows Americans remain divided over Republican promises to repeal Obama’s health plan. Forty-five percent said the law should stand, and 41 percent said it should go.

The poll does not measure the strength of individual candidates in specific districts, where indeterminate factors like voter turnout and even weather can affect results.

The poll, taken nationally Thursday through Tuesday with interviews of 1,173 adults, did not ask about United States Senate contests, as 14 states do not have Senate races this year.

It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. (ANI)