Exit polls after last night’s US presidential election suggest that Mitt Romney might have done well to pay more attention to that “47 per cent”.
Although the president won the popular vote by a narrow 2.6 million votes, his supporters proved far more diverse
than those rallying around Mitt Romney.
Mr Obama took about 70 per cent of Hispanic and Asian voters, along with an overwhelming 93 per cent of black voters.
Meanwhile, Mr Romney gathered more white voters at 59 per cent than the previous challenger John McCain did back in 2008, according to the exit polls conducted by Edison Research of Somerville, NJ, for the National Election Pool.
White voters accounted for 72 per cent of those at the polls this year, 2 per cent less than during the 2008 election.
Income and age also both appeared to create a dividing line between Obama and Romney supporters.
Mr Obama managed to pull majorities in the youth vote and on up to age 44, while Romney managed to come out on top with those aged 45 and up.
In addition, Mr Romney appealed more to those with incomes of $50,000 and higher, accounting for 59 per cent of voters.
Mr Obama held the widest margin of victory between himself and Mr Romney with 28 per cent more of those in the $30,000 or less income bracket.
Just as is in 2008 election, more women turned out to the polls than men. Given the media attention to a Republican war on women and several recent gaffes (“legitimate rape”), Mr Obama was expected to hold more sway with woman voters, and he did.
A solid 55 per cent of females voted for Mr Obama while 52 per cent of men put their weight behind Mr Romney.
Equally interesting is that 67 per cent of unmarried women voted for Mr Obama, according to ABC News.
Proving that he could not more shake his earlier hard conservative leanings Mr Romney also lost out to Mr Obama among moderates. The president was chosen over the challenger by 56 per cent of voters in that group.
Of course, in the end all the figures add up to a very simple number: four more years.
Based on the numbers, Republicans may have to work harder towards changing their main demographic if they wish to unseat the Democrats from the highest office come next election.
In the meantime, Mr Obama will likely face another term of gridlock unless everyone learns to work together.
Republicans maintained their hold on the House while Democrats kept their Senate majority, meaning compromise will be a necessity if Mr Obama’s message of change hopes to move forward.