Poll: Romney has economy edge among whites

In an election year in which the economy ranks as Americans' top concern, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney holds significant advantages over President Barack Obama among white voters who are struggling financially and buffeted by job loss, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Asked which candidate would do more to advance their families' economic interests, middle-class white voters who say they are struggling to maintain their financial positions chose Romney over Obama by a large margin -- 58 percent to 32 percent.

The former Massachusetts governor has a similar advantage on this question among white voters who have lost a job in recent years, or who have seen a family member or close friend face unemployment.

Nonwhite voters, struggling or not, give Obama huge leads over Romney when it comes to looking after their families' financial interests.

The results underscore a continuing challenge for Obama and the Democratic Party with white voters, and particularly those without college degrees -- who, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are significantly more likely to be unemployed than those with higher education.

Indeed, among whites who described themselves as struggling to maintain their economic footing -- regardless of their current class -- nearly seven in 10 lacked a college diploma.

And although they lean more Republican than the population in general, it is a group that neither party can ignore. In the new poll, 31 percent of these voters described themselves as Republicans, 27 percent as Democrats.

The telephone poll was conducted May 17 to 20 among a random national sample of 1,004 adults. The margin of sampling error for the full poll is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The margin is four points for the sample of 874 registered voters.