Poll: Obama Way Ahead In Hypothetical 2012 NH Primary Matchups

President Barack Obama
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Despite the recent chatter that Obama could face a primary challenge in 2012, a new poll of New Hampshire Democrats finds that those concerns are probably overblown.

The poll, conducted by Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies, matched Obama against three Democrats – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) None of the races were even close.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they would vote for Obama if Clinton were to challenge him, while just 28% said they’d support Clinton. Against Dean, Obama held a staggering 68% lead, with 78% of respondents supporting him in that scenario versus 10% who supported Dean. With Sanders as a challenger, the gap was even larger, with Obama on top 79% to 8%.

Obama’s apparent safety in the state is the result of his sterling approval and favorability ratings there. Seventy-seven percent of New Hampshire Democrats approve of the job he is doing as President, versus just 14% who disapprove, according to the poll. Obama’s approval rating is even higher, with 84% of respondents in the poll viewing the President favorably, while only 13% viewed him unfavorably.

Those high marks for Obama come despite the fact that a slim plurality of respondents in the poll said they opposed the tax cut compromise Obama struck with Republicans. Forty-two percent of those surveyed said they approved of the package — which would extend all of the Bush tax cuts for two years in exchange for, among other things, a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits — while 44% said they opposed the deal.

A few recent polls found Obama’s support slipping among liberals, possibly in part as a result of the tax deal.

The Magellan poll was conducted December 14-15 among 1,002 New Hampshire Democrats. It has a margin of error of 3.09%

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