Most independents said the comments would have no impact on their vote. Poll: Mitt remarks hurt indie support

Almost three in 10 independent voters said Mitt Romney’s comments on the “47 percent” would make them less likely to vote for him in November, nearly twice the number who said the remarks make them more likely to support the GOP presidential nominee.

While a majority of independents — 53 percent — said the comments would have no impact on their vote, 29 percent said it would make them less likely to back Romney, according to a Gallup poll. Fifteen percent said it would make a Romney vote more likely.


Overall, 43 percent of registered voters were unswayed by the leaked video, which shows Romney disparaging “47 percent” of the country as dependent on government and destined to support President Barack Obama. A fifth of registered voters said the former Massachusetts governor’s comments made them more likely to support him, compared to 36 percent who said it makes them less likely to support him.

But even those numbers may overstate the impact of the clips. Sixty-eight percent of Democrats said the video makes them less likely to vote for Romney — but only 5 percent of Democrats in Gallup’s daily tracking poll said they planned to vote for him before the comments were reported. Similarly, 92 percent of Republicans said they planned to vote for Romney, and 44 percent of them said the video makes them more likely to back the challenger.

The poll of 885 registered voters was conducted Tuesday as part of Gallup’s daily tracking poll. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.