Exit Poll Data Analysis

Chart 1:

This chart shows the ages of voters. There is a clear trend: as people get older, they become more likely to vote for Gingrich or Romney, and less likely to vote for Santorum or Paul. My theory is that this is caused by the kind of advertising the candidates use and who their policies appeal to. I find the divide interesting: Paul and Santorum, who are kind of on the fringes of the campaign, appeal to young people; Gingrich and Romney, who seem to be the two main contestants, appeal to older people.

This chart shows the incomes of the voters. Each candidate has a really interesting trend. Ron Paul's strongest support is in lower income households, and becomes less and less popular with groups of greater incomes. Gingrich has relatively high support across all levels, but his strongest point is definitely in the middle – he has less support among the richest and poorest groups. Mitt Romney is popular in exactly the opposite way as Gingrich: among the richest and poorest, he is popular, but less so among middle classes. Santorum is, like Gingrich, most popular in the middle – but less so among the poorest and wealthiest voters.

Chart 3:

This chart is the results of the polling question, "What quality matters most to you in a candidate?" I found a few things most interesting. First, each candidate has a clear weakness: clearly, Romney does not appeal to anyone who wants a "true conservative", and Gingrich is not considered to have strong moral character. Santorum is not popular among those who want an experienced candidate, and Paul is not favored for beating Obama. Another great analysis of this chart is the fact that there seems to be an inverse relationship between having strong moral character and being able to defeat Barack Obama. Clearly, people do truly believe that those who are morally true can succeed in politics. And, apparently, for good reason: there is also an inverse relationship between those who are favored for experience and those who have strong moral character!