Wednesday, October 08, 2003

There's a lot to chew on in CNN's California exit poll.

Most interesting fact, in my opinion: This was a revolt of the haves. The recall was rejected by voters with household incomes between $30,000 and $49,999, and by voters with household incomes between $15,000 and $29,999. For household incomes under $15,000, the vote was 50-50. The pro-recall majorities were in the upper brackets ($50,000-$74,999 and up), and the biggest majority (62%-38% in favor of recall) was in the $75,000-$99,999 bracket. (For a gloss on this, I wish I had my copy of Barbara Ehrenreich's Fear of Falling handy.)

Schwarzenegger got 24% of the vote of people who call themselves liberal, including 16% of those who call themselves "very liberal." He got 22% of the vote among people who disapprove of Bush.

Oh, and he got 42% of gays and bisexuals.

Of those who voted, 39% said they were Democrats, 38% Republicans. Soi what happened to that big registration advantage Democrats have? It doesn't help much if the extra Democrats don't actually vote.

64% of voters didn't think Schwarzenegger addressed issues in enough detail -- but 38% of that group voted for him anyway.

Here's my favorite: 15% of voters who "strongly approve" of Gray Davis's job performance say they voted to recall him anyway. Um, should we repeat the question?

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