Maybe for the first time, men are this election’s squishy voters, conflicted over President Obama’s reelection because so many have been or still are jobless and are uncertain about their future under Obama’s leadership while feeling disconnected to stuffy Mitt Romney, according to a stunning new analysis.
Evolving Strategies told Secrets that men are the new swing voters of the 2012 election while women appear settled in their choices. As a result, the advertising and polling analysis group said Democrats should reconsider their “war on women” effort to focus on men instead.
“Our findings turn the ‘war on women’ logic on it’s head,” said Evolving Strategies partner Adam Schaeffer. “Male swing voters look like the ones who could decide this election.”
Schaeffer stumbled on his game-changing findings while showing 1,000 “weak partisans and pure independents” two ads, a pro-Romney ad featuring Rep. Paul Ryan’s first speech as the vice presidential pick and an anti-Romney ad focused on taxes and Medicare.
He expected women to react more, but found they “did not shift significantly.” Men, he said, shifted radically and surprisingly. The pro-Romney ad pushed men to Romney. After seeing it, 54 percent backed Romney, a 13 point jump. The anti-Romney ad cut his support to 32 percent.
“Contrary to the conventional narrative, it seems that Governor Romney and President Obama have more to gain targeting men than they do targeting women,” said Schaeffer. “Men seem highly susceptible to advertising, and women much more stable in their opinions and vote-choice.”
He speculated that men are the undecideds because they have been hit harder by the economy and sky-high unemployment. “Men are more conflicted, they can’t sort it out,” reasoned Schaeffer. “A lot more men are conflicted about the choices and can be pushed by ads.”
