Obama Widens Lead in New Poll

Obama Widens Lead in New Poll

by Jeff Fecke

President Barack Obama leads GOP challenger Mitt Romney by 10 percentage  points, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center.

According to the poll, Obama would win 51 percent of the vote to Romney’s 41  percent. 10 percent were undecided or supported other candidates.

The improvement for Obama was driven by an increasingly unfavorable view of  Romney. According to the poll, only 37 percent of voters view Romney favorably,  while 52 percent have an unfavorable view of him. Those numbers showed  significant weakening from June, when 41 percent of voters viewed Romney  favorably and 47 percent viewed him unfavorably. Obama is viewed favorably by 50  percent of voters, while 45 percent view him unfavorably.

Romney suffered through a series of gaffes in July, including a disastrous foreign trip. Romney has also been stung over  attacks on his unwillingness to release more than a couple of personal tax  returns.

Romney continues to struggle with women, trailing Obama 56-37. Romney and  Obama are essentially tied among male voters, with Romney leading 47-46. Obama  leads among voters under 30 by a 58-34 margin. The only age group Romney leads  is voters over 65, who back Romney 49-45.

Romney is ahead with white voters, 51-42, but trails Obama badly among  African American voters and Hispanic voters. Romney trails 70-26 among Hispanic  voters, and a staggering 92-4 among African American voters.

Romney does lead, 49-43, among voters making more than $100,000 per year, but  he trails significantly among voters making less than that.

The poll was conducted July 16-26, 2012, of 1,956 registered voters and 2,508  adults. The poll has a margin of error of ±2.8 percent.