Harvard MBAs Favor Obama Over Romney

President Barack Obama in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

It may be a neck-and-neck race between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney among U.S. voters, but Obama is beating Romney by a landslide when it comes to MBA students at Harvard Business School.

Two surveys by The Harbus, the MBA student newspaper at Harvard, showed yesterday (Oct. 30), that Obama had the support of 65% of the students versus 32% for HBA alumnus Romney. The remaining students said they supported a third-party candidate, were still undecided, or did not plan to vote.

An earlier poll of second-year MBA students at Harvard had also found Obama winning by a landslide over Romney (see Why Harvard MBAs Favor Obama). That survey showed that 57% of the respondents to the survey favor Obama, with only 34% in support of Romney, who graduated from Harvard with both law and business degrees in 1975.

The Harbus said the two latest surveys were completed by 668 students, more than a third of the MBA candidates on campus. An initial Harbus poll asked students who they intended to vote for and whether their vote had changed in the last month, while an expanded second poll asked those two questions as well as sex, party affiliation, and the student’s year.

“There were broad consistencies between the data collected in the two polls, the former of which was completed by 494 students, the latter by 168. The President captured 63% of the first 494 votes and 68% of the remaining 168, leaving him with 65% of the total,” the newspaper reported.

“The convincing margin of victory is explained in part by two major demographic factors the President had in his favor against one that would, on a national level, trend in favor of his opponent,” wrote Bart Clareman, co-editor of The Harbus and a Class of 2013 student.

“First, more than twice as many students at HBS identified as Democrats than did those identifying as Republicans. Of respondents to the second poll, 34% of students identified as Democrats versus 15% who identified as Republicans. 26% identified themselves as independents, 24% as international students, and the remaining 1% preferred not to say.

“Second, the president enjoyed overwhelming support among HBS’ international student body. 83% of these responders chose Obama over Romney. Approximately 24% of all respondents to the second poll were international students. Among only eligible American voters, Obama held a 45%-26% advantage over Romney.”

DON’T MISS: B-SCHOOL LEADERSHIP GURUS SAY OBAMA IS NO ‘A’ STUDENT or IF OBAMA WERE IN MY MBA CLASS

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