Mitt Romney ties President Obama in latest PPP poll

There has been much ado about a recently released Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll which shows President Obama tied with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The notable aspect of this poll is that it is the first time President Obama has been tied with any candidate in any PPP poll.

Report from the UK Daily Mail:

Barack Obama could lose the presidency to Mitt Romney if the election was held today, poll results indicate.

The results show the Mr Obama and the front-runner for the 2012 Republican nomination in a dead heat on 45 per cent each – the first time the President has lost his lead over a Republican rival.

They come as U.S. politicians scrabble to reach a compromise that will raise the country’s debt ceiling to prevent the government defaulting on its debts.

‘There’s a very good chance Barack Obama would lose if he had to stand for re-election today,’ said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, which carried out the poll.

‘This is his worst poll standing in a long time and he really needs the economy to start turning around.’
This month, President Obama’s approval raing is 46 per cent, with 48 per cent of voters indicating they disapprove of the job he is doing. And the figures reveal two particularly troubling weaknesses for the President.

Independent voters are split against him by a 44/49 margin, and 16 per cent of Democrats are unhappy with his performance while only 10 per cent of Republicans give him good marks.

Mr Romney takes advantage of those weaknesses. Among independents, the Republican front-runner leads the Mr Obama by nine points, at 46-37.

And he boasts more cross-party support, with 13 per cent of Democrat supporters saying they would vote for him while just 8 per cent of Republicans are behind Mr Obama.

PPP surveyed 928 registered voters from July 15 to 17. Their results show a wide gap opening up between Mr Romney and the rest of the Republican field.

All the other Republican candidates trail Obama by at least as much as John McCain’s margin of defeat in 2008, and in most cases by much more.

Of course, with all the talk of “if the election was held today” doesn’t do too much for us this far out. So much will happen between now and then and these numbers will change.