Barack Obama,  Mike Huckabee,  Mitt Romney,  Newt Gingrich,  Polling,  President 2012,  Sarah Palin

President 2012 North Carolina Poll Watch: President Obama Competitive With GOP?

March 23, 2011 /

Perhaps so according to the latest PPP poll.

Job Approval Vs. Disapporoval:

  • President Barack Obama – 48% Vs. 46%

Favorable Vs. Unfavorable:

  • Mike Huckabee – 42% Vs 39%
  • Mitt Romney – 32% Vs. 41%
  • Newt Gingrich – 29% Vs. 48%
  • Sarah Palin – 37% Vs 57%

Head to Head:

  • Obama 45% Vs. Huckabee 45%
  • Obama 44% Vs. Romney 42%
  • Obama 47% Vs. Gingrich 42%
  • Obama 51% Vs. Palin 40%

North Carolina is a “must have” for the Republican nominee in the race for 2012. It should be a state where the GOP can make Electoral college vote gains.

The fact that Obama’s even money or better to win North Carolina again while Democrats appear to be in dire shape in the Gubernatorial race speaks to how much things are changing in the state’s politics. The last time the state went Democratic for President and Republican for Governor was 1896. The only times it elected Republican Governors in the 20th century it simultaneously voted for Republican Presidential candidates by margins of 40 points (in 1972), 24 points (in 1984), and 16 points (in 1988). But it looks entirely possible that the state will elect a GOP Governor next year without winning the Presidential contest at all, much less winning it in the sort of landslide that has previously allowed the party’s Gubernatorial candidates to come along for the ride

Hiowever, the GOP field is weak against the incumbent President. Either the GOP steps up their game with a new generation candidate or Obama will again win North Carolina and the Presidency.