Along with other good news in today's Pew Poll (LV:O50, R47; RV: O49, R42!) there is a revealing question about voter intent:
If the presidential election were being held TODAY, would you vote for for the Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, for the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, for the Libertarian Party ticket headed by Gary Johnson or the Green Party ticket headed by Jill Stein?
ASK IF CHOOSE ROMNEY: Would you say that your choice is more a vote FOR Mitt Romney or more a vote AGAINST Barack Obama?
ASK IF CHOOSE OBAMA:Would you say that your choice is more a vote FOR Barack Obama or more a vote AGAINST Mitt Romney?
The answers are a perfect response to the question Romeny poses in
recent ads condemning Obama's "revenge" remarks:
What is your reason for voting?
Turns out, we've got the positive edge by a wide margin:
78% of Obama supporters said they are voting more for him, than against Romney; 20% say the reverse.
On the other hand, just 60% of Romney supporters said they were voting more for him; 38% say their vote is more against Obama.
But it's even more interesting ...
The Pew Poll also lists results for similar questions for the past six elections. In five out of the past six elections-- (I'm not counting the 2000 abomination)-- the winning candidate was the one whose supporters were more "for him" than "agin' the other guy", just before the election. Here are the %s:
D R
2008 77% 63%
2004 43% 76%
2000 64% 66%
1996 65% 47%
1992 57% 56%
1988 55% 62%