This Gallup survey is the first one to simply read voters the Romney “47 percent” comments and ask “So, uh, what about that?” The results:
Thirty-six percent of voters say Romney’s comments make them less likely to vote for him, while 20% say the remarks make them more likely to vote for him, and 43% say the comments won’t make a difference… But independents – voters who are, by definition, less fixed in their partisanship – tilt toward the “less likely” over the “more likely” view by a 29% to 15% margin – although more than half say Romney’s comments make no difference.
So, we’re only talking about a plurality. The lion’s share of voters are indifferent to the story. But there was a semi-popular theory, in the first 24 hours after the story broke, that voters might actually like the Romney comments. Multiple studies in multiple countries have found that most people think they’re middle class, even if they aren’t. Maybe these same people would embrace the “stuff it, moochers” argument!
Maybe they won’t.
