The

Presidential Election:
Battle of the Sexes/Battle of the Ages/Battle of the Enlightened


With the Republican and Democratic conventions just around the corner, we thought wed take a
look at who is interested in and closely watching the upcoming Presidential election, based on a
recent survey from the DDB Life Style Study. It turns out, there are some significant gender and
age differences as it relates to engagement with politics in America, and some even more obvious
differences in attitudes and opinions of the candidates when education level is factored into the
equation.

Who is following the Presidential race closely this time around?

It turns out Men are more likely to be following the race more closely than Women (71% v. 52%)
and Boomers are more likely to be engaged versus Millennials (73% v. 46%). More than 2/3 of
people with college and post-graduate degrees are following the election closely, while only 55%
of those with high school degrees are doing so.

As it turns out, this is largely a function of a basic interest in politics, says Denise Delahorne, SVP
Group Strategy Director at DDB Worldwide, because the people who are most interested in
politics tend to be male, older and highly educated. In fact, those with post-graduate degrees are
30% more likely to be interested in politics than those whose highest level of education completed
is high school.

Who contributes money to the Presidential campaign?

Very few people contribute money to the Presidential campaign, with only 15% of people claiming
they do. While men are more likely to contribute than women (18% v. 12%), and Boomers more
likely than Millennials (22% v. 7%), the most salient characteristic of those who contribute money
to the Presidential campaign is education. Those with college degrees are twice as likely to
contribute money versus high school graduates, and those with advanced degrees are three times
as likely to do so.

Who can correctly identify the religion of the Presidential candidates?

After nearly four years as President of the United States, only 45% of people correctly identify that
Barack Obama is Christian. Nearly 20% of people incorrectly believe he is Muslim, while 29% are
simply not sure of his religion. Those with college and post-graduate degrees are far more likely
to identify correctly that Barack Obama is Christian.

69% of people know that Mitt Romney is Mormon while 21% are not sure of his religion. What
might be of concern to Mr. Romney is that 21% of Americans think people who are Mormon are
weird and 34% of Millennials believe this. Even those with post-graduate degrees are more likely
than those with just high school diplomas to share this view (27% v. 20%).

The good news for Mitt Romney is that being a Mormon is better than being an Atheist. 42% of
people would not vote for a Presidential candidate who is an Atheist. This is surprisingly true for
those with college and post-graduate degrees as well, with more than a third of each sharing this
attitude.

Which Presidential candidate is considered more trustworthy?

Overall, 47% of people trust Barack Obama and 31% of people trust Mitt Romney.

Men and Women trust Barack Obama equally, and trust is relatively equal across age groups.
Those with lower household incomes (under $20,000) and advanced degrees trust Obama the
most (53% and 60% respectively).

There is both a gender and age gap among those who trust Mitt Romney. 36% of men trust
Romney whereas only 27% of women do. Only 23% of Millennials trust Romney v. 37% of
Boomers. Even among those whose household incomes are over $100,000, trust for Romney
hovers at 35%.

In addition to lower levels of overall trust versus Obama, Mitt Romney also has a credibility issue.
39% of people believe he is lying when he says he was not involved in the management of Bain
Capital after 1999, and this opinion is relatively unaffected by age, gender, household income or
education level.

Which Presidential candidate is perceived to have greater concern for everyday Americans?

52% of Americans believe that Barack Obama is more interested in helping everyday Americans
than helping Big Business. Only 32% believe this to be true of Mitt Romney. The gap between
Obama and Romney on this issue transcends gender, age, income and education.

Is there anything that most Americans agree about when it comes to Presidential politics?

Absolutely. Nearly of Americans believe that no matter what President Obama does, some
people will dislike him because of his race.


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