Florida has been the largest swing state in recent presidential elections and a new poll from Fox News shows the Sunshine State -- and its 29 Electoral College votes -- will be up for grabs in November.
The poll of registered Florida voters has President Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney, the almost certain Republican presidential nominee, by a slim margin. Obama takes 45 percent of those surveyed while Romney, who won the Florida Republican primary at the end of January, takes 43 percent.
If Romney chooses Marco Rubio as a running mate, the junior U.S. senator from Florida, he inches closer to Obama. An Obama/Joe Biden ticket takes 45 percent in the poll, while Romney gets 44 percent when he is paired with Rubio.
Obama and Romney get mixed marks in the poll. While almost half -- 48 percent -- of those surveyed disapprove of Obamas performance in office, 43 percent approve. Still, Obama does better when Florida voters are asked if they see the president in a favorable light. While 49 percent see Obama as favorable, 47 percent see him as unfavorable.
Romney does slightly worse with Florida voters than Obama on favorability, with 41 percent seeing the Republican as favorable and 45 percent as unfavorable.
Florida voters who plan to back Romney are largely doing so to throw out Obama according to the poll. More than half -- 52 percent -- of Romney voters say their chief goal is to defeat Obama, while less than a third -- 32 percent -- are more concerned with putting Romney in the White House. With Obama supporters it is very different, with 75 percent of them saying they are voting for Obama while 15 percent say they are voting against Romney.
With the Sunshine State lagging behind the rest of the nation in economic recovery, the poll finds that Florida voters are not optimistic about it happening any time soon. More than half -- 55 percent -- think the economy has not turned around while 40 percent think the worst is over. Less than a third of Florida voters -- 31 percent -- are satisfied with where the nation is heading while 68 percent are unsatisfied with it.
The poll also shows that Gov. Rick Scott, the Republican who won the closest gubernatorial election in Floridas history, continues to remain upside down with Florida voters. While 34 percent of those surveyed say they approve of Scotts tenure in Tallahassee, 47 percent express disapproval.
The Fox News poll of 757 registered Florida voters was taken from April 15-17 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
