US News

Bam the ladies’ man

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President Obama won re-election last night because women voters had his back.

A majority of women supported Obama’s re-election, more than countering Romney’s lead among men, exit polls showed yesterday.

The president garnered 54 percent of the female vote compared with 44 percent for Romney. Historically, more women vote than men.

The president’s comfortable edge among women held up in key battleground states such as Ohio (where he led 55 to 44 percent), Florida (53-46) and Pennsylvania (55-43).

Romney led among men 53 percent to 45 percent.

While the shaky economy was the dominant issue of the campaign, Obama pushed issues of particular concern to many women, including abortion rights, contraception and health care.

Obama kept together much of the coalition that propelled him to office in 2008 — though he won those groups by lesser margins, the surveys show.

He won the youth vote — those ages 18 to 29 — by a margin of 59 to 37 percent. One in five voters was under 30, polls found.

Romney handily won the ballots of older voters. Those ages 65 and older backed Romney, 56 to 43 percent.

The former Massachusetts governor trounced Obama among white voters, 59 to 39 percent. But the president captured 93 percent of the black vote and 70 percent of the Latino vote.

Romney narrowly won independents, 50-45, and self-described moderates backed Obama, 56-42.

Six in 10 regular churchgoers put their faith in Romney, although the two candidates split the Catholic vote.

The pocketbook issue encompassing jobs and gas prices was the top concern of six in 10 voters.

That mirrors the number of voters who cited finances as the top issue in the race for the White House four years ago.

But more voters blamed President George W. Bush than Obama for the nation’s economic woes.

And more voters said Obama rather than Romney was for the common man. Those making less than $100,000 a year — nearly three of every four voters — backed Obama 53-45. Voters making more than $100,000 favored Romney by 11 points.

About four in 10 think the economy is on the mend, but six in 10 said things are getting worse or remaining the same.

A slim majority, 52 percent, said the nation is on the wrong track, while 46 percent said it was getting better.

Regarding the key question, “Are you better off financially than you were four years ago?” only 24 percent said yes. Three-quarters said they were worse off or the same.

The economic terrain favored Romney. Pre-election polls said the former businessman was better equipped than Obama to create jobs.

But Obama received credit in Midwest swing states for the federal bailout of the auto industry. In Ohio, voters backed government aid to US companies, 59-36.

Meanwhile, six in 10 voters said they favored raising taxes, particularly on the wealthy — something Obama promoted to help balance the budget.

About one in six voters named the nation’s exploding deficit as their top issue.

Voters seemed more distrustful of government than four years ago. The survey showed 53 percent said the government did too many things better left to business — up 10 points from 2008.

As for health care, voters remain divided on Obama’s signature domestic law, the Affordable Care Act.

Forty-five percent said they wanted to repeal part or all of the law, and 47 percent said they wanted to keep or expand it.

About one in six voters cited health care as their top issue.

Exit surveys show Hurricane Sandy was on the minds of voters. Some four in 10 said Obama’s response to the Frankenstorm factored in how they voted, while 55 percent said it had no impact.