A national poll released by Quinnipiac University Wednesday found that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts was tied with President Barack Obama, and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas was right on the presidents heels. The poll also found that Perry was beating Romney for the Republican nomination.
Romney and Obama both took 45 percent each when matched against each other. Obama did slightly better against Perry, beating the Texas governor 45 percent to 42 percent. Obama did better against two other Republican candidates. He garnered 48 percent against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota who took 39 percent. He did even better when matched against former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who remains on the sidelines though she has left the door open to running in 2012, beating her 51 percent to 37 percent.
While Obama might have leads over three Republicans, the poll found that a majority of those surveyed -- 51 percent -- did not think the president deserved another term. Forty-two percent thought Obama should have four more years.
The poll found that voters were evenly divided over Obamas favorablity with 47 percent falling on each side. The president was struggling with independents, with 46 percent of them backing Romney while 40 percent supported Obama.
The poll indicated that there were racial and gender divides over the election. Men backed Romney 47 percent to 43 percent while women supported Obama 46 percent to 43 percent. White voters backed Romney over Obama, 54 percent to 34 percent. Obama carried 93 percent of blacks surveyed while Romney took 2 percent of them. Obama led Romney with Hispanics, 58 percent to 31 percent.
"The president is now dead even with one top Republican and just inches ahead of the other, said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. He needs to improve his standing among men, whites and independents to ensure his re-election.
Perry took 24 percent of the Republicans surveyed with Romney in second with 18 percent. Palin took third with 11 percent followed by Bachmann with 10 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas took fifth place with 9 percent. Businessman Herman Cain followed with 5 percent and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia garnered 3 percent. Three candidates -- former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah and U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan -- tied for eighth with 1 percent.
When Palin was taken out of the mix, Perry still led Romney by 6 percent. In that scenario, Perry took 26 percent followed by Romney with 20 percent. Bachmann garnered 12 percent and Paul followed with 10 percent. Cain stayed at 5 percent while Gingrich moved up to 4 percent. Santorum took 2 percent while Huntsman and McCotter trailed with 1 percent.
"Governor Rick Perry has sprinted out of the gate as a candidate for the GOP nomination," said Brown. "Being the new kid on the block has benefited Perry. But with prominence comes scrutiny and both his Republican competitors and the Democrats are doing their best to convince voters he's not Mr. Wonderful. The next few months will be a race between Perry and his Republican and Democratic opponents to define him for the vast majority of the American people."
The poll of 2,730 registered voters was taken from Aug. 16-27 and had a margin of error of +/- 1.9 percent. The sample of 1,150 Republican primary voters hada margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
