Public Policy Polling, a firm with close ties to prominent Democrats, unveiled a poll on Wednesday that shows that former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, is within the margin of error of overtaking President Barack Obama.
The poll has Obama beating Romney by a narrow margin, taking 47 percent to the Republicans 45 percent. In May, PPP had Obama ahead of Romney 47 percent to 42 percent.
While Romney is in striking distance of the president in the poll, Obama does better when matched against the rest of the Republican field -- however the other GOP hopefuls are narrowing the gap.
Obama leads businessman Herman Cain by 10 points, beating the former Godfathers Pizza CEO 48 percent to 38 percent. Obama led Cain 47 percent to 29 percent back in March. The president beats former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota 50 percent to 39 percent. Back in March, Pawlenty trailed by 16 points in the PPP poll. When matched against former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Obama leads by 13 points, beating the Republican hopeful 52 percent to 39 percent. While Gingrich had a rough month, Obama led by a similar margin -- 52 percent to 38 percent -- back in May. Obama also beats former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, taking 52 percent to 38 percent. Obama beat Palin 54 percent to 37 percent in May.
Our polling is increasingly showing both nationally and in swing states that if Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee, its a tossup at this point, and that if the GOP nominates anyone else, Barack Obama is in pretty good shape, said PPP President Dean Debnam.
PPPs poll found that all five of the Republican candidates named in the poll had higher disapproval than approval numbers. Just as he did in the poll against Obama, Romney did the best -- with 37 percent of those surveyed seeing him favorably, while 47 percent viewed him unfavorably.
A clear majority of those surveyed hold unfavorable views of Palin and Gingirch. While 59 percent see Palin unfavorably, she is seen favorably by 29 percent. More than two-thirds -- 68 percent -- view Gingrich unfavorably, while the former congressional leader garners only 16 percent favorability. Cain and Pawlenty remain more unknown. While 25 percent see Pawlenty favorably, 42 percent view him unfavorably, with 33 percent undecided. Cain is seen in a favorable light by 20 percent, while 38 percent see him as unfavorable and 42 percent are undecided.
The poll of 520 nationwide voters was taken between June 9-12 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
