Survey: Obama built coalition of moderates

Republicans cast President Obama as an out-of-touch liberal during the recent election, but a new survey says Obama won thanks to moderate voters.

"Our data reveals that the Obama Coalition is far more moderate than people may suspect," reports the poll from the Third Way organization.

"From the role of government, the size of deficits, and the level of taxes to social issues and the notion of compromise, the Obama Coalition holds center-left positions on a range of issues," it added.

"Democrats were victorious this year not because they played to the wings, but because President Obama effectively built a center-out coalition."

Third Way says its data show that Obama voters "place themselves in the center ideologically."

"The Obama Coalition is composed primarily of moderates and liberals, with slightly more, 42%, identifying as a moderate and 40% as a liberal. Another 14% call themselves conservatives," Third Way says.

"According to our poll, nearly three-fifths of the president's support came from self-described moderates and conservatives.

"This breakdown tracks closely with exit poll data, which shows that 42.7% of Obama voters were liberal, 45.6% were moderate, and 11.8% were conservative."