Michigan Poll: Obama By 6 Points, Half Say Auto Bailout Is A ‘Deciding Factor’ In Their Vote

President Barack Obama
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President Obama is up in Michigan, according to a new poll realeased Wednesday from in-state pollster EPIC-MRA and sporsored by the Detroit Free Press. Obama gets 48 percent support to Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s 42 percent overall, leading by 6 points as he did in the last EPIC-MRA poll of the state, two weeks ago. From the Free Press:

“I think the auto issue … that has solidified things for Obama,” said EPIC-MRA pollster Bernie Porn, referring to the 2009 investment and structured bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler which was led by the administration and is widely credited with helping both automakers return to profitability. In recent days, Romney — who said in 2008 he would have limited government help for the companies — has suggested in radio and TV spots in Ohio that the rescue did more for jobs in China than the U.S., despite the creation of thousands of jobs in Michigan and across the country…

Half of those polled said the rescue of GM and Chrysler was a deciding factor in their support – and of those, nearly two-thirds backed Obama. Among the slightly less than half that said it wasn’t a deciding factor, Romney had the edge, but by less — 56% to 33%. Meanwhile, the number of Michigan voters giving Obama favorable marks rose 4 percentage points to 55% from the early October survey; Romney’s remained constant at 45%.

The EPIC-MRA poll was conducted Oct. 26-29 and used 600 interviews with likely voters by telephone. It has a sampling error of 4 percent.

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