The Independents love him..(Paul). he polls best with them. The core Democrats are going to vote Obama..irregardless of his dismal record... the core Republicans will do likewise.... if you recall the Ross Perot race.. he received 19% of the popular vote. .
" In a new Public Policy Poll, 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul bests President Obama 48 to 39 percent among independent voters"
In some states... not all, popular vote takes ALL the electoral votes. But interestingly, there is no law that says this has to be so. Some states, will allocate their electoral votes according to the popular vote. And some states...the electoral college is under no obligation whatsoever. The are free to vote their "conscience"... no matter what the popular vote says.
They are not staying with the parties...they are in fact migrating in their own right. T
Quote;
"It appears that independents were elected to state legislators in 2010 in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont. We are still waiting to see if one was elected in Colorado."
This is a very distressing Democratic circumstance. One, the core liberal base has been dissed by Obama. Two, he gutted his standing with moderate democrats, and independents with centrist leanings. Republican voter however are staying with their home team. ..they are in the "anyone but Obama mode".. The status of "Independent" is in large measure coming from the Democratic hide... more self described independents are conversions from the Democratic Party. More Democrats are leaving party affiliation than republicans
this is a good overview...Obama's fortunes with Independents has been dropping like a stone. The more he leans to his base, the less appealing he is to Independents.
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/82404092/
Republicans in the main are a pretty disciplined party... they deliver the votes. There is lage cultural centrist core of Democrats that have been totally marginalized
"But when it comes to the ever crucial bloc of independent voters, Romney trumps Obama by a 12-point margin – 53 percent to 41 percent. Independents in 2012 could be especially critical in tipping the scales in such battleground states as Florida, Ohio, and Virginia, all of which went for Obama last time around but have since been deemed toss-ups."