Only once since 1944 has Ohio voted for a losing presidential candidate, and if the 2012 election were held today, President Obama would be breathing easy, as a new PPP poll of registered voters shows him building on his lead over a slate of potential Republican challengers.
On Wednesday, PPP released poll results showing that as voters rapidly soured on Republican Gov. John Kasich — who has pushed to strip unions of their collective bargaining rights — they were simultaneously sounding much more positive about reelecting Sen. Sherrod Brown. Now, it appears that same Democratic bump has buoyed Obama’s reelection odds as well.
In December, Obama led four Republican challengers by between one and seven points; he now leads them all by at least six.
In the latest poll, Obama led Mike Huckabee 48% to 41%, and topped Mitt Romney 46% to 40% though he led them by one and two points respectively three months ago. Against Newt Gingrich, Obama’s lead doubled from six to 12 points, while Palin’s deficit slipped from a seven to a 16-point margin.
The big reason behind Obama’s surge is a sudden surge of support from Democrats.
In December, Obama posted an upside-down approval rating, with 42% of all voters approving of his job performance, including about seven in ten Democrats. Yet now, while Republican and independent support has remained fairly constant, 84% of Democrats are suddenly behind the President.
As with Sherrod Brown’s rising support, it appears as though the budget-battle has energized Democratic voters to throw their weight behind their party’s candidates. Of course that bump could easily recede by election day, but if not, it could give a big boost to the Democratic ticket in 2012.
