We Built That: Small Business Abandons Romney and Supports Obama, 47%-39%

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:29 pm

More evidence that the roof is caving in on Mitt Romney came today from a poll of small business owners conducted by George Washington University School of Political Management, which found Obama leading Romney, 47%-39%.

Not only is Obama leading Romney, but the George Washington University poll also found that small business owners thought President Obama was more supportive of them than Mitt Romney by 39%-31% margin, with 28% undecided.

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6,415 small business owners were asked what their single most important issue was in their choice for president. Forty percent of them responded the economy and jobs. Fourteen percent listed corruption/honesty/ethics in government, six percent responded social/moral issues, and five percent said it was beating Romney/supporting Obama/electing Democrats. Obamacare, beating Obama/electing Romney/supporting Republicans, and the budget deficit all tied at 5%. Two staples of the Romney campaign, taxes was mentioned by 3%, and government regulation was not mentioned at all. The three most important issues to small business owners were unemployment and the job market (26%), the federal budget deficit (16%), and healthcare costs (10%).

Small business owners listed self-employment taxes, the cost of gas, healthcare costs, and personal income taxes to be the biggest burdens. President Obama has cut taxes for small businesses anywhere from 16 to 18 times depending on how a small business tax cut is defined. In contrast Mitt Romney came up with a slogan, but the benefits of his tax plan are designed for corporations and people at the top. Romney’s plan would give the biggest corporations a $1 trillion tax cut.

As a businessman Romney should have natural appeal to small business owners and should be running away from Obama, but he is losing to the president. His attempt to mobilize small business behind him with the class warfare battle cry we built that fell flat and has vanished from his campaign.

Republicans love to claim that Obama is unfit to be president because he has never run a business, but small business owners are supporting Obama because he understands their concerns. Mitt Romney has no idea what it is like to run a small business in today’s economy, and even worse, he appears to have no interest in learning.

This poll was taken before the hidden camera video that gave Americans their first look at how Mitt Romney really feels about them, but it looks like the roof has been caving in on Romney for a few weeks now. Romney’s support seems limited to conservative billionaires, Mormons, and rank and file Republicans who are stuck with him.

Obama’s message that the economy has gotten better from where it was, but isn’t where it needs to be seems to be resonating with many small business owners. This election is boiling down to a matter of trust, and like the rest of the country, small business owners don’t trust Mitt Romney to support them.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association