WASHINGTON — Another week, another presidential hopeful with apparent momentum — this time U.S. President Barack Obama, according to a new poll that placed him ahead of Mitt Romney in three key swing states.
The survey by Quinnipiac University, CBS News and The New York Times suggests Obama has been leading his Republican rival in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Obama-versus-Romney breakdown is 51 per cent to 45 per cent in Florida, 50-44 in Ohio and 53-42 in Pennsylvania.
The majority of voters in all three states said they found Obama more likeable. And when asked about the president’s economic politics, a majority of likely voters said either that they “are improving the economy now” or will improve the economy if given more time to work.
All three states are considered up for grabs in November’s presidential election, and victory in critical battleground states helps propel candidates to the White House.
“If today were Nov. 6, President Barack Obama would sweep the key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania and — if history is any guide — into a second term in the Oval Office,” Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.
Brown pointed to improving unemployment numbers in Ohio and Florida as playing a role in Obama’s strong showing in those states, noting that “the president is running better in the key swing states than he is nationally.”
Indeed, the Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll had Romney ahead of the president nationally on Wednesday, attracting 47 per cent of the vote compared with Obama’s 44 per cent. Real Clear Politics’ average of national polls conducted from July 9 to July 31, on the other hand, shows Obama with 47 per cent compared to Romney’s 45 per cent.
Almost all polling suggests Obama is far ahead of Romney among women voters, minorities and those under 40, while Romney’s backed strongly by working class white people and those over 40.
News of Obama’s apparent momentum in critical battleground states comes as the Romney campaign plans a high-profile swing through several of those states leading up to the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this month.