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

President 2012 Poll Watch: Obama 49% Vs Romney 45%

According to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone April 14-17, 2011, among a random national sample of 1,001 adults, including users of both conventional and cellular phones. The results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, Pa.

Again, this is a national poll which, I have mentioned before, means little in the grand scheme of polling for the Presidency. What is important here is that the narrative from the left-leaning Washington Post is that President Obama is vulnerable because of the economy.

Deepening economic pessimism has pushed down President Obama’s approval rating to a near record low, but he holds an early advantage over prospective 2012 rivals in part because of widespread dissatisfaction with Republican candidates, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

In the survey, 47 percent approve of the job Obama is doing, down seven points since January. Half of all Americans disapprove of his job performance, with 37 percent saying they “strongly disapprove,” nearly matching the worst level of his presidency.

Driving the downward movement in Obama’s standing are renewed concerns about the economy and fresh worry about rising prices, particularly for gasoline. Despite signs of economic growth, 44 percent of Americans see the economy as getting worse, the highest percentage to say so in more than two years.

The toll on Obama is direct: 57 percent disapprove of the job the president is doing dealing with the economy, tying his highest negative rating when it comes to the issue. And the president is doing a bit worse among politically important independents.

Then, there is the continuing narrative from the LEFT, that despite Obama’s problems with the economy, the GOP field is doing worse. Well, perhaps.

If Obama is running into headwinds, however, his potential Republican opponents face serious problems, as well. Less than half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they are satisfied with the field of GOP candidates.

That field is still taking shape, but the sentiment is a big falloff from four years ago, when nearly two-thirds of Republicans were satisfied with their options.

Lack of enthusiasm for the candidates came in other measures, as well. When Republicans and GOP-leaners were asked who they would vote for in a primary or caucus, only former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney registered in double digits, with 16 percent. More than double that number expressed no opinion and an additional 12 percent volunteered “none” or “no one.”

Businessman Donald Trump (8 percent), former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (6 percent) and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (5 percent) were the only other names volunteered by more than 2 percent of respondents.

The fact is the GOP is keeping its powder dry and waiting to tag team President Obama. This is a smart strategy.

As Obama and the Democrats gear up their campaign (which, by the way, will only be in about 10 states), the GOP field is maturing. Frankly, a number of potential candidates will not be around past two or three primary electoral contests.

On the bright side of this poll, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are within the margin of error nationally and they really have not started to campaign.

And, the attention the past two weeks has been on the surrogate Donald Trump who has been attacking Obama mercilessly without any of the baggage falling upon Romney or Huckabee. The question will be how much will Obama be able to take before attacking Trump with surrogates?

Again, not too much in this poll, except that President Obama is vulnerable and especially vulnerable on the economy.

5 Comments

  • Guest

    I would like more information about how the polling was done. The polling was done Thursday through Sunday. If a poll is done by phone (especially if the polling is done during working hours) and you’re polling people who are largely at home, near their phone, then the sample might disproportionately represent individuals who are not working. I would imagine that this group would largely consist of women, retired, and unemployed individuals (habitually and short-term). I think that individuals are also likely to try to influence the choice of the Republican candidate by saying that they would be unwilling to vote for (ITEM), if they favor a different candidate, in order to improve their chosen candidate’s likelihood of recieving support; in all likelihood, most individuals will vote their chosen party candidate even if that candidate was not their first choice.
    Early polling like this has vey limited usefulness.

  • Neff1807

    anyone that works and believes in personnel responsibility that would vote for obama is an idiot. and I mean >He is a socialist joke that is ruining the future of our country for our kids. Spending more than all other Presidents combined and talking about debt reduction. What a fraud, scum, Get a clue. You look at these polls and realize the facts of those who dont pay income tax, 47%! Walk in my shoes and see how much you would appreciate socialism, the wealth distribution crap that is going on.

    • Gregory Flap Cole

      Did you look at the date of the post and poll = April, 19 2011?

      And, Ron Paul has not broken out of around 6-8% at best in most polls and not in the top 4. He is not considered a serious candidate to win the nomination.

      Sorry, but those are the facts