Politics
Election 2012: President Obama leading Romney in swing states
“If he can keep those leads in all three of these key swing states through Election Day he would be virtually assured of re-election,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Despite his inroads in key states, voters are still critical of Obama for his handling of the economy.
Forty nine percent of respondents in the NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll said they are less optimistic about the economy compared with 43 percent who are more optimistic.
Fifty-three percent disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy, which is up 1 point from last month.
Although polls consistently show that voters see Romney as less likeable than Obama, the former Massachusetts governor’s message that he is a job creator strikes a note with Americans tired of dire monthly unemployment statistics.
Romney “gets a gift from God on the first Friday of every month,” analyst Greg Valliere, the chief political strategist at Potomac Research Group, told the Reuters Washington Summit, referring to monthly Labor Department jobs reports. The latest report said unemployment rose a tenth of a point in May to 8.2 percent.
Romney is also looking for an electoral boost if the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul when it rules on the issue on Thursday.
