I almost couldn't sleep because my earlier post about Romney's views of the 47% (or 46%) of Americans failed to state that of course Romney glibly assumes that the moochers and leeches he describes are also identical with those who would vote for Obama:
ROMNEY: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what.
But we don't know how that group of Americans vote or if they vote at all. They might even -- gasp! -- vote for Romney!
Catherine Rampell has a neat piece on the various possibilities. I encourage you to read it through. The elderly often qualify for that moocher-group, and they tend to vote Republican, for example. The poorest earners are less likely to vote, in general, but even among that group a sizable minority votes Republican.
Rampell also makes a necessary clarification:
Mr. Romney also said that this “47 percent” of people who don’t pay federal income taxes are the same people who are “dependent” on government services:
All right, there are 47 percent … who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it....the nonpayers can’t be conflated with the service receivers; people of all incomes and tax liabilities receive government services, not just those who have no federal income tax liability.
See how much more complicated reality is..