New numbers from North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling (D) shows President Obama in a statistical dead heat with all the GOP presidential candidates. Obama only has a one point lead on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 47 – 46, and a two point advantage on former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, 48 – 46.
As has been the issue in North Carolina, President Obama stuggles with getting above the 50 percent mark on approval, but his Republican counterparts have major problems with favorability. From PPP:
Obama’s job approval rating is nearly even, with 48% approving and 49% disapproving. This is a net +4 increase from our poll in late October which saw Obama at 45/50. Meanwhile, all 4 Republican challengers are suffering from unfavorability ratings at 50 percent or above: Newt Gingrich is at 30/58, Ron Paul is at 24/60, Mitt Romney is at 31/56, and Rick Santorum is at 35/50.
Among always crucial independent voters, the picture is not much better for Republicans. They dislike all the Republican candidates – Gingrich has a 24/61 favorability rating among independents, Paul is at 39/46, Romney is at 31/57 and Santorum’s at 34/51. Obama leads Gingrich among independents 52-40, leads Romney among them 48-43, and leads Santorum among them 51-42. Only Ron Paul leads Obama among independent voters, 45-43.
The TPM Poll Average of the race shows an advantage of a few points for Romney in the state against Obama:
The TPM Poll Average of President Obama’s approval in the state:
