WASHINGTON — Whites and women are a re-election problem for President Barack Obama. Younger voters and liberals too, but to a lesser extent.
All are important constituencies that helped him win the White House in 2008 and whose support he will need to keep it next year.
An analysis of Associated Press-GfK polls, including the latest survey released last week, shows that Obama has lost ground among all those groups since he took office. The review points to his vulnerabilities and probable leading targets of his campaign as he seeks to assemble a coalition diverse enough to help him win re-election in tough economic times.
In his victory over Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Obama cobbled together a base of support from across the political spectrum by wooing Democratic loyalists as well as independents and first-time voters.
This time, Obama’s team is working to build voter outreach organizations and reconnect with supporters in hopes of expanding his pool of voters.
It’s no easy task.
The nation’s high unemployment is dragging down Obama’s marks for handling the economy. His overall standing has slid too, after a difficult summer marked by contentious negotiations over the country’s borrowing limit, a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating and concerns about the U.S. falling into another economic recession.
The poll shows that 46 percent now approve of how he is doing his job, down from 52 percent in June.
Obama will have to win over people such as Brian Arnold, 33, of Pickerington, Ohio. He’s an independent who voted for Obama in 2008 because he liked the Democrat’s outsider image. Now, Arnold says he is undecided and down on Obama.
“He got elected, it was a big party, and after that he went back to being a politician,” Arnold said. “As soon as he got in office, he just did more of the same.”
The AP analysis looked at the viewpoints of all adults, not just those who plan to vote in 2012. In no way does it predict how Obama will fare with influential demographic groups next fall.
It does, however, indicate which groups will need extra attention in this campaign as he tries to persuade voters to stick with him for another four years.
Among the findings
• White independent voters, who divided their support evenly between Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain in 2008, might be the president’s biggest challenge now. Just 3 in 10 white independents say Obama deserves to be re-elected, and only 41 percent say he understands the problems of people like them.
• Women no longer are a bright spot for Obama. In the latest AP-GfK survey, less than half of all women and less than half of all men approve of the job Obama is doing. Just 50 percent of women said Obama deserves re-election.
• Younger voters and liberals are showing doubts about him too. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats under age 45 say Obama is not a strong leader, compared with 11 percent in June.
