A new CNN/ORC poll finds that the 2012 Presidential race is now essentially tied — with supports of Barack Obama seemingly more enthusiastic:
The race for the White House remains very close, according to a new national poll, partly because neither President Barack Obama nor Republican challenger Mitt Romney have a clear advantage on issue number one – the economy.
A CNN/ORC International survey released Friday also indicates that Obama supporters are more energized right now than those backing Romney.
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According to the poll, 49% of registered voters say that if the November election were held today, they would vote for Obama, while 46% say they would cast a ballot for Romney, the unofficial GOP presidential nominee. The president’s three point margin is within the survey’s sampling error. Obama had a nine point advantage in CNN’s last national poll, which was conducted in early April.
“Which candidate better understands how the economy works? That’s a tie as well – 45% pick Obama, 45% choose Romney,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
According to the survey, one in five questioned say neither candidate can fix the economy, with another one in five saying the economy will recover regardless of who wins in November. Among the rest, once again there is no clear advantage – 31% say economic conditions will improve only if Romney wins; 28% think things will get better only if Obama stays in office.
The poll was conducted Tuesday through Thursday, before the release Friday morning of the May unemployment numbers. According to the disappointing report from the Labor Department, the nation’s unemployment level edged up to 8.2% last month, with only 69,000 jobs created in May.
But will this enthusiasm gap narrow? There are reports that many conservatives including Rush Limbaugh love the in-your-face campaign Romney is now conducting and essentially want GOPers to stop worry about the country’s middle and go for the partisan, ideological jugular. It could be: this would be a way to fire up the GOP base.
Does this mean Donald Trump will start raising the birther issue again and not be repudiated by Mitt Romney?
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.