The recent fall in approval ratings for ruling Millennium Democratic Party presidential candidate Roh Mu-hyun has been largely influenced by supporters in their 40's who changed their minds according to a recent Gallup Korea poll which showed them switching support to his Grand National Party rival Lee Hoi-chang.
In a previous Gallup poll on April 2, when Roh's popularity peaked support from voters in their 40's hit 59.9% surpassing Lee's 26.7%, but 40 days later in a similar poll on May 12, this was reversed to 41.2% for Lee and 38.9% for Roh. As a result the overall gap between the two narrowed from 16.1% to 7%, although Roh still leads.
During the same period, the support for Roh from those in their 20's rose from 51% to 58.4%, up 7.3%; while supporters in their 30's rose slightly to 55.8% from 54.5%. Some 46.1% of those in their 50s supported Lee, up from 43.1%, showing the younger generation favor Roh while the older generation support Lee.
In a similar poll by TN Sofres, support for Roh by people in their 40's peaked at 54.2% to Lee's 30%, but reversed in one month to give Lee the advantage with 46.7% to Roh's 34.1%.
"The sudden rise in support for Roh in March emerged from people in their 30s and spread into those in their 20s and 40s, but the fall started with people in their 40s," explained Heo Jin-jae vice manager of Gallup Korea.
Unlike people in their 20s and 30s, research analysts say those in their 40s show far more sensitive to bad factors affecting Roh. Since April 9 when the "Three Hongs-Gate" scandal reached a climax, Gallup has shown support for Roh from those in their 40's fall remarkably, even more so since his visit to former president Kim Young-sam on April 30.
(Hong Yeong-rim, ylhong@chosun.com)
