Voters Give Romney Slight Edge Over Obama on Economy; Republicans more negative about Obama than Democrats are about Romney.
Byline: Elizabeth Mendes
Synopsis: More registered voters (61%) say Mitt Romney would do a good job of handling the economy over the next four years than say this about President Obama (52%). But when asked to choose who would do better, voters are more evenly split.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Registered voters are more likely to say Mitt Romney, if elected president, would do a very good or good job of handling the economy than they are to say President Obama would, if re-elected -- 61% vs. 52%. While the two men earn about equal "very good" ratings, 22% of voters think Obama would do a "very poor" job, more than twice as many as say the same about Romney (10%).
Voters were asked to rate Obama and Romney separately on the economy in the May 1-2 USA Today/Gallup poll. However, when forced to choose between the two in a follow-up question, voters were split about evenly, with 47% saying Romney and 45% Obama.
Republicans More Negative About Obama Than Democrats Are About Romney
Voters' greater likelihood to say Obama would do a "very poor" job with the economy comes partly from the large percentage of Republicans who say this -- 46%. This compares with a much smaller 20% of Democrats who say the same about Romney. This could partly reflect the fact that Obama has been in office for more than three years in troubled economic times, while Romney has no track record on the economy at the national level. In total, 81% of Republicans say Obama would do a very poor or poor job of handling the economy, while 58% of Democrats give Romney the same ratings.
Independents also give Romney much better ratings than Obama on handling the economy. Twenty-one percent of independents believe Obama would do a very poor job with the economy over the next four years, while 7% say the same about Romney. They are more likely to say Romney than Obama would do a very good or good job -- 64% vs. 52%.
Independents' views on the forced-choice question are similar, with 50% saying Romney would do a better job and 40% saying Obama would. Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly choose their respective party's candidate as better able to manage the economy -- at almost identically high levels.
Bottom Line
Americans identify the economy as the most important problem facing the country, so voters' perceptions of which presidential candidate will do a better job of handling it will play a pivotal role in the outcome of the election.
Weak economic growth and sustained...
To continue reading
Request your trial