USA Today/Gallup Poll: Romney, Gingrich Beat Obama in 12 Swing States
Newsmax ^ | Tuesday, 13 Dec 2011 10:25 AM | Dan Well
President Barack Obama is in big trouble, with both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich leading him in a dozen key swing states, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney leads Obama among registered voters 48 percent to 43 percent in the 12 states the survey covers. And former House Speaker Gingrich leads the president 48 percent to 45 percent. Nationwide, Obama leads Gingrich 50 percent to 44 percent and Romney 47 percent to 46 percent, according to the poll.
The 12 states include Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Obama won all of them in 2008. Each could go either way next year, and Obama needs to win half of their electoral votes to gain a second term, according to USA Today.
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The decrease in the number of voters who identify themselves as Democrats, coupled with the increase of those who call themselves independents, will make Obama’s re-election quest more difficult. Excluding those who lean Democratic, the portion of voters who identify themselves as Democrats has slipped to 30 percent from 35 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, the portion of independents has climbed to 42 percent from 35 percent.
In three of the eight swing states that have party registration — Colorado, Iowa, and New Hampshire — independents now outnumber both Republicans and Democrats.
That’s bad news for Obama,
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But trends in ideological demographics are working for Republicans and against Democrats. In the swing states poll, 44 percent of respondents called themselves conservatives, more than doubling the 21 percent who called themselves liberal.
Assuming strong support among conservatives, the Republican nominee will need only a small portion of the 35 percent of voters who call themselves moderates to win the election. Obama, on the other
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