The top political headlines this week have all been focused on President Obama’s public support of same-sex marriage, but as recent political polls reveal the top concern in the 2012 election is the economy. Vice President Joe Biden, has begun campaigning this week in eastern Ohio and both the Democratic and Republican parties are attacking their opponents economic record to win over the “blue collar” vote.
The latest presidential campaign ads are casting negative light over their opponents economic record. Mitt Romney, has been attacking the national deficit, while President Obama’s latest attack ad centers on Romney’s time at Bain Capital, and focusing on the auto bailout which is largely popular in 2012 swing states like Ohio and Michigan. These recent TV and web ads may be evident of other recent poll results suggesting that individuals top priority is still the economy, even if they happen to be socially conservative.
In the wake of this week’s earlier endorsement of same-sex marriage, analysts were trying to see how this would effect other minority groups who are typically seen as socially conservative. This includes looking at Hispanic voters a vital voting block in the 2012 Presidential election. Latino voters are often portrayed as being staunchly socially conservative, however, this may not be accurate to paint the Hispanic community this way. Hispanics along with every other demographic are becoming less polarized on the issue of same-sex marriage. Even members of the Latino community who are strongly opposed to gay marriage find this issue secondary to the more important issues of immigration, and job security. Obama has maintained a large lead over Romney in regards to the Latino vote and his stance on gay marriage is unlikely to change that. To sway the key demographics in the swing state elections both candidates are going to have to play to their economic strong points, or the opponents weaknesses.
