Politics
Election 2012: Obama leading Romney in 3 swing states
U.S President Barack Obama (l) and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (r). PHOTO/AP
President Barack Obama holds an advantage over Republican Mitt Romney in three swing states critical to the outcome of the presidential election, according to a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University, CBS News and the New York Times.
The telephone survey of likely voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania also finds support for the president’s plan to increase income taxes on upper-income Americans.
The swing-state polling finds Obama supported by at least 50 percent of the voters surveyed in all three states:
Florida: Obama, 51 percent; Romney, 45 percent.
Ohio: Obama, 50 percent; Romney 44 percent
Pennsylvania: Obama, 53 percent; Romney 42 percent
According to the polling institute, since 1960 no candidate has won election as president without winning at least two of the three states surveyed.
Support for Obama’s proposal to allow the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to lapse for households earning more than US$250,000 a year ran at 58 percent to 37 percent in Florida, 60 percent to 37 percent in Ohio and 62 percent to 34 percent in Pennsylvania.
Romney and the Republicans running the U.S. House want to extend the tax cuts for all taxpayers, and Romney proposes additional cuts in all income tax brackets.
