A poll unveiled on Tuesday shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- the overwhelming favorite for the Republican presidential nomination -- trailing President Barack Obama in the crucial state of Florida, but finds adding former Gov. Jeb Bush, whose father and brother held the presidency, would help narrow the gap.
The poll from Public Policy Polling, a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, shows Obama leading Romney in the Sunshine State, taking 50 percent to Romney's 45 percent. Obama does much better when matched against the other two surviving Republican candidates. The president beats Ron Paul in Florida by double digits, leading 50 percent to 40 percent. Obama does even better when matched up against Newt Gingrich, beating the former U.S. House speaker 52 percent to 40 percent.
While the Sunshine State lags the rest of the nation with a high unemployment rate, Obama is treading water with Florida voters. A slim majority -- 51 percent -- approve of his performance in the White House while 45 percent disapprove of it. Romney, who won the Florida Republican primary handily over Gingrich at the end of January, is upside down in the Sunshine State, with 41 percent viewing him favorably while 51 percent see him in an unfavorable light.
The poll finds that Bush, who won gubernatorial elections in 1998 and 2002, is more popular than either Obama or Romney in Florida. While 40 percent see the former governor as unfavorable, 52 percent view him in a favorable light. If Romney selects Bush to be the first Floridian on a major partys national ticket, the poll finds that Florida moves to within the margin of error. While Obama and Joe Biden get 49 percent, a Romney-Bush ticket would get 46 percent.
Three other Florida Republicans do not help Romney as much as Bush does in the poll.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio gets mixed marks in the poll, with 43 percent approving and 41 percent of those surveyed disapproving the Republican freshmans performance. The Obama-Biden ticket gets 50 percent while a Romney-Rubio pairing follows with 43 percent. While there has been speculation that Rubio will be a contender to end up as Romneys running mate, the senator has downplayed such talk.
Gov. Rick Scott is upside down in the poll with 34 percent approving of his performance in Tallahassee while 54 percent disapprove of it. Obama-Biden take 51 percent while a Romney-Scott ticket follows with 40 percent.
While it is rare for presidential nominees to select congressmen as their running mates, it is not unknown. Barry Goldwater selected William Miller to be on the 1964 Republican ticket and Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro for the 1984 Democratic ticket. Florida Republican freshman U.S. Rep. Allen West has expressed being open to being on the GOP ticket but he remains largely unknown in Florida according to the poll. A plurality of Florida voters --- 44 percent --- are not sure about West while 32 percent see him as unfavorable and 24 percent view him in a favorable light. Obama and Biden take 50 percent when matched up against a Romney-West ticket, which follows with 40 percent.
The poll of 700 Florida voters was taken April 12-15 and had a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percent.
Kevin Derby can be reached at kderby@sunshinestatenews,comor (850) 727-0859.
