2012 Decoded

It's easy to forget, now that President Obama is preaching a populist message on the campaign trail, that a major part of his winning coalition in 2008 was from wealthy voters - the very top "one percent" that he's been calling on to pay their fair share in taxes.  Obama carried the super-wealthy - those making $200,000 or more a year - with 52 percent of the vote, a total 17 points higher than John Kerry won in 2004.  And well-heeled Wall Street donors, a major part of his fundraising base four years ago, helped him raise record sums of money in the general election.

But take a look at Washington Capitals vice-chair Raul Fernandez, who donated $30,000 to the president's campaign n 2008, for a sign of how things have changed.  Fernandez told the Washington Post that he would be voting for "anyone but Obama" this time around, and suggested his fairness rhetoric smacked of anti-Americanism.  He's not an anomaly: Obama has surprisingly struggled to match his 2008 fundraising pace, largely thanks to his weak showing with large donors and bundlers.  And in the last week's Quinnipiac poll, Obama is trailing Romney among those making $100,000 or more, 49 to 43 percent, his worst showing among any economic demographic.