Barack Obama,  Mitt Romney,  Polling,  President 2012

President 2012 North Carolina Poll Watch: Obama and Romney Tied at 45%

According to the latest PPP Poll.

Barack Obama’s annual summer polling swoon has come to North Carolina. For the first time since February more voters disapprove than approve of him in the state, and for the first time since November he faces majority disapproval. His approval rating this month is down to 45%, with 51% of voters unhappy with him.

A sharp turn against him with independent voters is what’s causing Obama problems in the state. Last month they narrowly gave him good marks by a 47/46 margin but now only 36% are happy with him while 62% disapprove. Obama’s approval with Democrats is 77%, generally on par with what it’s been over the course of his time in office. And even though receiving only 5% approval from Republicans is pretty bad for Obama it’s also nothing new- he’s had little crossover popularity with GOP voters since the day he took office.

Obama’s declining popularity also means he’s not doing as well in head to head match ups against possible Republican opponents for next year. He is now tied with Mitt Romney at 45%. Although the margins were usually small he had led Romney all eight previous times PPP polled a match up between the two of them in the state. The key here is again those independent voters- they give Romney a 17 point advantage at 50-33.

North Carolina is a key battleground state and like Florida is a state with a goodly number of Electoral College votes. And, like Florida where Mitt Romney has been leading Obama in the polls, North Carolina is in range for a GOP pick up.

Each poll of the key battleground states for the GOP, Mitt Romney is either leading or within striking distance.

Not a good sign for the incumbent President.

The entire poll is here.

This is the third key swing state in the last week, along with New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, where we’ve found Obama with under water approval numbers and struggling in head to heads with Romney. Obama’s poll numbers have seemed to go bad every summer since he went to the heart of the American spotlight and they usually see some recovery- he’ll have to hope that will be the case again this time around.

electoral college President 2012 Florida Poll Watch: Romney 46% Vs. Obama 42%

Electoral College vote map of Larry Sabato