Before the RNC Convention
After the RNC Convention
It will be interesting to see what the polls say after the DNC Convention where we know it will be a hate filled blamefest because Obama can't run on his record.
Poll: Voters say they are no better off than 4 years ago
By Susan Page, USA TODAYUpdated 8/20/2012 11:59 AM
Barack Obama, who made history when he was elected president four years ago, would make a different kind of history if he wins re-election in November: The first incumbent in at least a generation to claim a second term when most Americans say they aren't better off than they were when he moved into the Oval Office.
USA TODAY/Gallup Poll nationwide and in the 12 top battleground states, most voters say the situation for them and their families hasn't improved over the past four years, the first time that has happened since Ronald Reagan famously posed the question in his debate with President Carter in 1980 — a contest Carter lost.
Even so, President Obama, who in 2008 became the first African American elected president, maintains a slight lead over challenger Mitt Romney in the battleground states likely to decide the election, 47%-44%. That's better than his standing in the non-battleground states, where Romney leads 47%-45%.
Despite airing millions of dollars in TV ads and taking a high-profile trip abroad, Romney has failed to budge in the swing states, stuck at 44% or 45% since April. In that time, Obama has maintained a steady 47% despite a string of disappointing monthly jobs reports and an 8.3% national unemployment rate.
The president's vulnerabilities on the economy have opened the door to a re-election rebuke, analysts of all stripes agree, but so far Romney has failed to walk through that opening. In the poll and follow-up interviews, voters say they have lost much of their faith that Obama can fix the economy but aren't convinced they can trust Romney to watch out for them and their interests.
Romney's biggest opportunities to do so lie ahead, at the Republican National Convention that opens next Monday in Tampa and in the presidential debates in October.
"I'm really kind of torn, and I'm glad I don't have to vote today," said Kerry O'Hearn, 55, of Grandville, Mich., who was called in the poll. "There's just something about Romney that I'm not sure I like." She voted for Obama four years ago, but if she had to grade him now on the economy, she'd give him a D.
At the moment, O'Hearn is likely to vote for him again anyway. "I'm willing to give Obama another chance; I'm willing to do that," she said. "But is the economy going to be better because Romney's in there? I don't know." She plans to start paying attention to the TV ads that are flooding Michigan and go online to check out the Republican challenger.
Greg Miller, 54, of Sugarcreek, Ohio, said he plans to vote for Romney, though not with a lot of enthusiasm. He wants to hear more about the former Massachusetts governor's specific solutions.
"We country bumpkins feel like we're facing a lot of issues that don't come up," Miller said. "The lack of jobs is a pretty harsh thing. We somehow don't have an economy that is very confident. I feel like we have lost our confidence and trust not only in our political system but also in our financial system."
When they were asked, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" voters by 56%-40% in the swing states and 55%-42% nationwide say they aren't. While that question has been posed only episodically when other recent presidents were seeking re-election, the current finding is the worst it's been when it was asked.
In the Swing States Poll, just 14% call the current economy good. The overwhelming majority describe it as "only fair" (44%) or poor (41%). Economic woes are fueling unease about the country's direction. Seven of 10 in the swing states and 72% nationwide say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States. Just 28% in the swing states and 26% nationwide are satisfied.
The battleground states surveyed are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin — competitive states most likely to swing the Electoral College.
Americans today have a gloomier outlook than they had when other recent presidents have sought second terms and won. Satisfaction with the country's course reached nearly 50% for Reagan in 1984, 38% for Bill Clinton in August 1996 and 44% for George W. Bush in August 2004. However, it was even lower at 17% in August 1992, the year the first President George Bush lost to Clinton.
'It's going to be a bumpy ride'
Top strategists in both campaigns say they find encouragement in the survey.
"This election has always been a choice about two candidates and about two different visions, and we're winning that choice," said Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager. "People like this president. They trust him. The more they know about Romney, the higher his negatives have gone. …
"I don't think he can fix the overall problem he has," Messina said, arguing that Romney's support for tax cuts for the most affluent "aren't values that people are going to share."
Romney pollster Neil Newhouse said the fundamentals of the race remain unchanged. "Voters are extremely dissatisfied with the direction of the country; they overwhelmingly say they are not better off than they were four years ago, and they believe President Obama hasn't done as well in handling the economy as they expected. It was essentially a dead heat in May and that's where the race is today."
He added: "Better fasten your chin straps. It's going to be a bumpy ride to Election Day."
The Swing States Poll of 970 registered voters was taken Aug. 6-13; the candidate matchup in the non-swing states are based on Gallup polling taken on those same days. On other questions, a separate nationwide poll of 913 registered voters was taken Aug. 11 and Aug. 13. Both polls have margins of error of +/-4 percentage points.
The sentiments in the survey were echoed in a roundtable discussion last week with a dozen women from the suburbs around Milwaukee, one of a series sponsored by the Annenberg Center for Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. (USA TODAY watched a livestream of the focus group.) The women were not strongly committed to either candidate.
Asked to describe the current economy as a weather report, none saw even a patch of blue skies. "Rain," said the first. Around the table: "Fog." "Tsunami." "Overcast." "Earthquake." "Stormy." Most have suffered turbulence in their immediate families over the past four years, including layoffs, a home foreclosure and the closing of a family business. Ten of the 12 voted for Obama in 2008, but now eight said they are undecided, two of those leaning toward the president.
The women like Obama and expressed affection for his family. When moderator Peter Hart asked whom they would prefer to be stuck with in a car with for a long daily commute, all but one chose the president over Romney.
Even so, most expressed disappointment about Obama's leadership. "He made so many promises," said Michelle Nicole Wienke, 31, the mother of three who was laid off from her job at a Harley-Davidson plant three years ago and has been able to find only temp work. She acknowledged the economic crisis Obama inherited but complained that nothing has changed. Now she doubts it ever will: "I don't think I'll even be alive when it goes back to the way it used to be," she said.
They admired Romney's business acumen but didn't know much about him and didn't like much of what they did, describing him as aloof and elite — a neighbor who might bring lobster to a neighborhood pot luck, as one of them joked. Several wondered whether he was hiding something in refusing to release more than two years of his tax returns.
"It's a matter of trust," said Linda Granec, 43, a homemaker.
"We can keep Obama in for another four years and not be guaranteed of anything," Michelle Tina Wilke, 38, an electrical assembler, worried. But elect Romney, and "he might not succeed either."
Who gets the blame?
In the USA TODAY swing states survey, a majority of those polled don't think Obama has done as well as could be expected in dealing with a tough economy. Among those who say they aren't better off than they were four years ago, six in 10 blame Obama — 33% holding him alone responsible and 28% citing him and Bush in combination — while 13% blame Bush alone. One in four hold neither responsible.
There is, predictably, a partisan divide over who gets blamed. Half of Republicans but just 2% of Democrats blame Obama alone, while 16% of Democrats and just 1% of Republicans blame Bush alone. Independents are most likely to blame both.
David Merrill, 29, a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, said Obama hasn't done enough in office to be "job friendly," saying his tax proposals could hurt small-business owners. Merrill earned an associates degree two years ago but found it impossible to find a job; to improve his prospects, he went back to school to get a bachelor's degree in biology. He'll graduate in May.
He's voting for Romney. "Mr. Romney has run a company, and I'm hoping that he can turn the economy around," he said. "I hope we can have a favorable job market for people who are finishing college."
Deborah Meads, 61, a retiree in Virginia Beach, calls Obama "a victim of circumstances" who "came into an awful situation" when he took office. She supports the president and is dubious about Romney. "I don't think he could ever understand what it's like for somebody who lives week to week, paycheck to paycheck," she said. "How can he? He's never really lived it."
In response to another of the questions Reagan posed in the 1980 debate, voters by more than 2-1, 67%-28%, now say America isn't as respected as much throughout the world as it was four years ago. That negative reading comes despite the fact that Obama gets his strongest job-approval ratings for handling foreign policy and national security. They are divided on a third question, on whether the nation is as safe and as strong as it was four years ago. Half say yes; 47% say no.
And the next four years?
Americans are optimistic that things will improve, but only if the candidate they back wins. Among Obama supporters, 81% predict they will be better off four years from now if the president wins a second term; 84% of Romney supporters say they will be better off in four years if he wins.
However, neither candidate commands the confidence of even half of the overall electorate. And when voters are forced to choose between the two contenders on this issue — under which presidency were their families more likely to be better off in 2016? — the continuing closeness of this election is underscored.
Obama 44%, Romney 44%.
After the RNC Convention
Polls, Romney has 5 % lead over Obama after RNC convention
Romney
September 2, 2012
By: Sahit Muja
Polls, Romney lead Obama in 11 swing states and nationally. Obama's economic record, his campaign of division, anger and hate and his total lack of leadership is weighing him down in new polls.
New poll today, Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 48% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns 44% of the vote.
These results are from 11 key states won by President Obama in 2008 and thought to be competitive in 2012. The states collectively hold 146 Electoral College votes and include Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
In the 11 swing states, Mitt Romney now attracts 46% of the vote, while President Obama earns 44%
Team Obama 2012 campaign of division, anger and hate is toxic with negativity, Obama is pandering to key demographic groups.
Many people who voted for Obama in 2008 are greatly disappointed and realize that President Obama has done more to divide this country than any president in U.S history.
President Obama; You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong, You cannot help poor person by tearing down rich person, You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
Mr. President cannot pay your bills by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.You cannot establish security on borrowed money from China, You cannot build Freedom by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
Mr. President You cannot help Americans permanently with food stamps by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
Mr. President the good judgment comes from experience. I don't believe We can take 4 more years of trial-and-error job training program.
Obama's hope, hype and mythology " Yes We Can" has lured millions of Americans to vote for Obama in 2008. The Obama's hope, hype and mythology "Yes We Can" is dead, Obama promise is replaced with toxic anger and hate. President Obama's economic policies are now a nightmare for the US economy.
President Obama has fallen tragically short of fulfilling prophetic legacy "Yes We Can", "Instead of working for change as He promised in 2008 election, the Obama's administration gave us national debt $16 trillion. The biggest debt increase (near 6 trillion by the end of his term) by any President in US and world's history.
The debt for US citizen is $50,950.00. Unemployment is above 8.3% for 42 months, despite the nearly $6 trillion dollar in Obama's new debt.
TheUS has had the longest unemployment since the Great Depression. The Americans on food stamps have increased 42% to 46 million, that is 1 out of every 6 Americans living in the poverty.
We have doubled gas prices at the pump, cost of living is up, average U.S. worker salaries is going down and highest ever cost for heath care in US history.
The unemployment is 8.5% or more and up in 44 states. The US credit rating downgraded for the first time in the history.
President Obama has fewest contacts with key members of Congress, fewest meeting with business leaders, Job experts, fewest chief adviser's who have really private sector experience.
President Obama has most campaign stops, most fund raisers, most golf rounds, most vacations in any President in U.S history.
President Obama has forced “Obamacare” down our throats despite majority of Americans were opposed to it. President has stopped the Keystone pipeline that would have created thousands of jobs.
Obama has provided half a billion tax payer’s dollars to Solyndra, of which promptly turned into a failure. Obama was traveling the globe to publicly apologize for America’s world leadership.
Home foreclosures per year have increased by 34% from 850,000 to 1,140,000. Total bankruptcy filings per year have increased by 42% from 1,117,641 to 1,593,081.
The US dollar compared to gold has declined100%, gold was $ 815.00 ounce in Nov, 2008 to $$1,690.30 an ounce today.
The US economy is languishing under the weight of Obama's failing leadership, regulation, red tape and political correctness.
We need energy independence, real tax reform and an end to reckless spending that defies any sense of logic.
It will be interesting to see what the polls say after the DNC Convention where we know it will be a hate filled blamefest because Obama can't run on his record.