WASHINGTON – The Obama Campaign’s attacks on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s business record is having a penetrative effect on the American electorate, a new poll reveals.
According to a new online poll conducted by Reuters and Ipsos, more than a third of voters, who are registered to a party, or as an independent, said in an online survey that what they had heard about Romney’s taxes and his time at Bain Capital, a private equity firm, had given them a less favorable impression of Romney.
And particularly worrying for Romney is that a large number of independent voters, whom he needs to win for the November 6 election, are also buying into the Obama Campaign’s portrayal of him as a ruthless businessman who may be hiding something in his taxes, The Politico reports.
“With three-quarters of registered voters saying they’ve heard at least a little about these issues, I would say the Obama Campaign has been successful in raising them to the national conscience,” Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said.
After weeks of accusations from Obama and his allies that Romney cut US jobs and sent them overseas while he headed Bain, 36% of registered voters said the issue had made them see Romney less favorable, compared to 18% who said they were now more favorable toward the former governor of Massachusetts.
Among Independents, 26% regarded him less favorably and 13% more favorably after hearing about his business tenure.
