A new survey from ABC News and the Washington Post show President Obama’s position in a possible matchup against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney nationally. Obama leads Romney 51 – 45 among registered voters, but the secondary numbers show Obama looking better on key economic virtues.
The President’s general approval on the economy has risen in ABC/WaPo’s polling to a 44 percent against 53 disapproval, up from a 36 – 62 split in September. But against Romney among registered voters, Obama is even on who would handle aspects of the economy better. On creating jobs, Obama is tied with Romney at 46 percent, and on “protecting the middle class” Obama sees a huge advantage at 56 – 37. But it’s the score on handling taxes, a issue Republican typically see a lot of support on, that may be very troubling for Romney — Obama leads on the issue by four, 49 – 45.
From the Washington Post’s analysis:
About nine in 10 people still rate the economy negatively, and among independents, 50 percent view this as a big strike against Obama’s reelection bid; far fewer, 33 percent, say it is a good reason to back his candidacy.
In contrast, by nearly 5 to 1, independents are more apt to view Romney’s business experience as a reason to support rather than oppose him.
However, his private-equity experience is a mixed blessing for him. The poll suggests that he has considerable work left to do to turn his business biography into a clear asset. One indicator: Thirty-three percent of all independents say Romney’s work in private business helped create jobs, 34 percent say it did more to eliminate jobs and 33 percent expressed no opinion.
