The exit polls from yesterday’s Michigan and Arizona primaries reveal some shocking news about who actually voted for Rick Santorum, and it’s not shockingly good news for the Santorum campaign.
Santorum lost in almost every single category in Arizona, to Mitt Romney, taking only a plurality — not even a majority — of voters who are White Evangelical/Born-Again, and taking only those voters who said being a “True Conservative” or having “Strong Moral Character” were the number one most important characteristics in a candidate, along with those whose “Religious Beliefs of Candidates Matter a Great Deal.”
In Michigan, which is a stronger template for the U.S. as a whole, Santorum again lost to Romney, despite a nine percentage point bump from Democrats voting for Santorum, for better or for worse, attempting to prolong the GOP primary.
But again, Santorum looks very bad in Michigan:
In addition to White Evangelical/Born-Again voters and those whose “Religious Beliefs of Candidates Matter a Great Deal,” along with “True Conservative” or having “Strong Moral Character” being the number one most important characteristics in a candidate, Santorum beat Romney. And Santorum beat Romney in these categories:
Protestants
30-44 year olds
Never attended college, no college degree, no college education
Income under $100,000 annually
Union members
Democrats
Strongly Support and Strongly Oppose the Tea Party
Anti-abortion and abortion is the most important issue
Support Santorum because they “Dislike Others”
Those who decided on Santorum this month
Recent debate not a factor
Bottom line, Santorum is losing in almost every single demographic, except the radical and extreme ones.
Not a good place for a healthy candidate to be.
Serves him right.
Images via CNN exit polls