I object to the use of the term “defectors.” mjh

McCain voters defecting to Obama are older white males – Yahoo! News By Gabriel Debenedetti | Reuters

Roughly 5 percent of respondents in Reuters/Ipsos polls said they chose the Republican contender in 2008 and will switch to Obama in 2012. This number peaked at around 9 percent two separate times over the summer, according to data collected since January. …

The McCain-to-Obama switchers are 55 percent male, and 34 percent of them are 55 or older. (Overall, Obama trails Romney 34 percent to 52 percent among white men over 50.) About 72 percent of them are white.

They are largely from the East Coast; nearly 4 in 10 live in the mid- or South Atlantic. Nearly 3 in 10 finished their education after high school, and nearly 2 in 10 have a bachelor’s degree.

Two-thirds say they are absolutely going to vote, choosing "10" on a 1-10 scale for likelihood of voting.

Even though 38 percent of all voters believe the economy is the election’s most prominent issue, just one-third of the McCain defectors agree. Character matters more. …

The defectors to Obama remain a smaller subset of respondents than those who voted for him in 2008 and now support Romney. The Reuters/Ipsos polling shows 10 percent of voters plan to cross the aisle in that direction.

(The Reuters/Ipsos database is now public and searchable here: tinyurl.com/reuterspoll)

(Editing by Prudence Crowther)

McCain voters defecting to Obama are older white males – Yahoo! News