The Shifting Vote

On the morning after election, the Democrats needed no pollster to tell them that the Republicans had cut heavily into long-standing Democratic voting strongholds. But just how heavily, Pollster George Gallup got around to reporting last week. Items:

The Negro Vote: In 1952 the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket polled 21% of the Negro vote, in 1956 upped the figure to an astonishing 39%. But lest the G.O.P. start kidding itself about an irreversible trend, Gallup reported that Negroes generally used the word "Eisenhower" when they liked what the party did, used the word "Republicans" when they damned it.

The Youth Vote: In 1952 voters between the ages of 21 and 29 gave Eisenhower-Nixon 49% of their vote, upped it in 1956 to 57%. Said Gallup: this shift is significant because 8,600,000 adults have reached voting age since 1952, and more are coming fast.

The Woman's Vote: In 1952 some 58% of the women favored Ike and Dick, in 1956 some 61%. This figure too has pregnant potentialities for the next election: for the first time since women won the vote 36 years ago, nearly as many women as men went to the polls.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.