President Obama’s own approval ratings seem to play into this: Since March, 42 percent of independent registered voters have approved of Obama’s performance, to 51 percent disapproving. Of those 51 percent, an overwhelming majority — 71 percent — said that they would vote for a Republican congressional candidate if the election were held today. By contrast, 63 percent of those who approved of Obama said that they would vote for the Democrat.

Of course, it’s important to remember that these numbers are never as bad as they appear, for the simple reason that “independents” aren’t an undifferentiated mass of reasonable people. By and large, self-identified independents have clear partisan preferences, and lean toward one party or the other. When push comes to shove, those partisan leaners will fall in line with their less ambiguous fellow-travelers, and in all likelihood, that’s what we’re seeing now. Republican-leaning independents who may have been favorably disposed to President Obama are rediscovering their inner conservative and returning to the fold. There may be some genuine independents — or weak Democrats — who have moved to supporting the Republican candidate, but my guess is that they are a small portion of the overall total.

In the South, Obama’s lead is a slimmer 49-38, and post-”Beerfest” Obama only leads by 10 points among white voters. But everywhere else, and among every other demographic group, he dominates Palin.

Marist asked about Palin’s resignation — she’s been a former governor for a month now — in a meta way, taking stock of whether voters thought “will help or hurt her running for president in 2012.” Sixty-one percent of all voters, and 50 percent of Republicans, say it will hurt her.

Now Gallup has a new poll that confirms this trend and, for the first time in 25 years of polling, shows that most Americans would prioritize the economy at the expense of the environment.

Gallup (click to enlarge)

Since 1985, Gallup has asked people annually if they would prioritize the environment “even at the risk of curbing economic growth” or the economy “even if the environment suffers to some extent.” Last year, people selected the environment by a margin of 49 percent to 42 percent. This year, the numbers essentially flipped: 51 percent chose the economy and 42 percent chose the environment.

Never before had the majority of respondents prioritized the economy, though the numbers were close at the end of George W. Bush’s first term as president.

While last week’s poll showed a significant decrease in environmental concerns, the shift in this poll is far more dramatic, with a clear reversal of previous trends.

Not surprisingly, responses differed sharply with party identification. Noteworthy are the data among independents, 50 percent of whom choose the economy, to just 42 percent for the environment:

Gallup (click to enlarge)

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In another clear reversal of previous trends, record numbers of people are following our Twitter feed. You can join them here.

I spent the weekend poring over the CNN exit polls from last Tuesday’s election and converting the state-by-state data for a number of demographics into my own hypothetical electoral maps.

The result is a set of maps that visualize the outcome of an election decided exclusively by the following age groups, genders, income groups, political affiliations, etc.:

Voters age 65 and older:

White voters: (A “black voters” map would be a sea of blue.)

Men:

Women:

Self-described political moderates:

Registered independents:

College graduates:

Voters earning under $50,000 per year:

Voters earning over $50,000 per year:

Voters who are “worried about economic conditions”:

Voters whose “most important issue” was the economy:

Voters whose “most important issue” was the war in Iraq:

(Note: These maps were created with the handy tool at 270towin.com.)

From the new Washington Post poll:

Two in 10 independent voters said they are more inclined to vote for Obama because of Powell’s backing.

That is a huge share of a key voting bloc in an era when few people say they are swayed by big-name endorsements.  Powell retains a special appeal — especially among independents — for his reputation as a moderate, honest and respectable foreign policy figure who has served both parties. (For supportive data, see my post about Powell from before the endorsement.)

Now, I don’t think any endorsement is going to be the crucial factor for the people who truly remain undecided 12 days out from Election Day.  But the nod from a Republican foreign policy expert is clearly solidifying Obama’s support among independents — and may be helping him among military families and conservative Democrats.