Proving that Obama's biggest gaffe is still resonating throughout the country with small business owners, if the "We Built This" signs, the T-shirts, the refusals to cater Obama/Biden events weren't enough, now polling by Manta shows evidence by way of small business owners stating they will be voting for Mitt Romney over Barack Obama, by more than two-to-one, 61 percent to 26 percent.
That is a six percent drop for Obama from their May findings.
Manta, which hosts the largest online small business community, polled roughly 2,000 small business owners for the latest report, part of its series of political tracking surveys.
Furthermore 54 percent of respondents believe the Republican Party is the stronger supporter of small businesses, while only 19 percent say the same about the Democratic party.
The key issues for small business owners continue to be health care (21 percent), tax policy (20 percent) and government regulation (16 percent), the survey found.
For the last couple years, small business owners, large business owners such as Democrat Steve Wynn from Wynn Resorts, and former Home Depot co-Founder Bernie Marcus, have been publicly saying Obama has been a wet blanket to businesses who terrifies business owners (Wynn), Obama has been choking economic recovery (Marcus), and Democrats have blurred the lines and are hurting small business owners while pretending only the wealthy would be affected by Obama's "tax the rich" plans (small business owner). These men have consistently made it clear that Barack Obama's policies have not encouraged them to invest, hire or grow but has done just the opposite.
A Gallup survey conducted before Barack Obama's now infamous "You didn't built that" quote, but which the results were released after the quote was heard across the country, showed that U.S business owners were one of the major occupational groups that gave Obama the lowest approval (35%) and the highest disapproval (59%).
Via Gallup "Implications":
Although business owners represent just a small subset of the U.S. population, they are of course a critical component of the economy and overall economic optimism in the country. If business owners become more positive about Obama and his plans for the economy, that could potentially boost his approval ratings and broader U.S. economic confidence closer to the levels necessary for him to be well positioned for re-election. Conversely, further deterioration in his approval rating among business owners could certainly add to the perception that Obama is not doing enough to bolster small businesses in the country.
Those Gallup results were based on telephone interviews conducted as part of the Gallup Daily tracking April 1-June 30, 2012, with a random sample of 25,464 employed adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
From his regulatory practices to his tax proposals, his class warfare attacks to his very own words, Barack Obama has become known as anti-business and the Manta survey goes to show continued deterioration with that imporant segment of the population.
Below is the 8/21/12 press release:
As Election Nears, Small Business Owners Migrating Toward Romney
Latest Political Tracking Poll from Largest Online Small Business Community Reveals Key Insights on Hot Election Topics
COLUMBUS, Ohio—August 21, 2012— With less than three months until the election, the small business community continues to shift their vote to Gov. Mitt Romney, according to a new survey by Manta, the largest online community dedicated entirely to small business. The majority (61 percent) of small business owners say they plan to vote for Romney and only 26 percent say they plan to vote for President Barack Obama - down 6 percent since May.
Additionally, the selection of U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan as Republican vice presidential candidate didn't impact the small business owner vote as the majority (58 percent) says they still plan to vote for Romney and 25 percent say Obama still gets their vote. However, Obama may still have a fighting chance with small business owners given that 40 percent say their vote will likely be influenced by how the needs of small businesses are addressed by the candidates during the upcoming Republican and Democratic conventions.
At the same time, small business owners may not be easily swayed, as nearly half (48 percent) say convention-related information will not impact their votes. Only 25 percent of small business owners say that the initiatives discussed during the election will influence their voting decision and just under 20 percent say that the speeches from the presidential candidates at the conventions could sway their vote. Moreover, 38 percent say they are most likely to base their vote on which party best represents itself as most supportive of small business initiatives and growth.
Only 19 percent of small business owners feel Obama and the Democratic Party best support small business, a 7 percent decrease since the last poll in May. Currently, more than half of the respondents (54 percent) say the Republican Party is the biggest supporter of small business.
"While it is critical that the presidential candidates address vital small business issues like tax policy and healthcare at the conventions this year, it's also important that they share concrete examples with the small business community about how proposed initiatives will help them grow their business the rest of year and in the future," said Pamela Springer, CEO of Manta. "With a shaky economy, small businesses are trying to catch up and rely on non-governmental resources to stay in business."
The survey findings are part of a series of Manta Political Tracking Polls that offer an ongoing assessment of small business owners' opinions on candidates and hot topics related to the upcoming presidential election. Manta's latest survey polled more than 1,900 small business owners.
Manta supports small business owners by providing simple and cost-efficient tools, specifically tailored to them, to help improve their online presence, connect with customers and prospects and, ultimately, drive business growth.
"I think the business world in general, and thus my customers in particular, would be doing better economically if we all had more certainty about what will happen after the election in November. While I'm going to vote for Romney, neither presidential candidate seems to be a big supporter of small business as neither of their campaigns has been fully focused on key small business issues," said Matthew Kent of Minnesota-based Mateo's Soccer Store a family-owned shop that sells soccer gear. "Luckily, Manta has been a key resource in helping me market and grow my business with tools to attract new leads and connect with reliable suppliers, which are important ways to help small, local businesses like mine - even with an uncertain future ahead."
For more on the poll, please contact manta (at) bordersgratehouse (dot) com. To access the full survey results, go to http://www.manta.com/media/political_survey_4_082112.
(Correction made to this post to change T-Shits into the correct T-shirts!!! Thanks to Greg who asked if it was intentional!, lol)