President Obama is beating Mitt Romney in a general election matchup 53 percent to 40 percent, a new Bloomberg National poll shows. The poll also shows 53 percent of likely voters disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy. And, to confuse things, 45 percent of those voters think they are better off now than they were in 2009.
The poll, as Joe Scarborough said this morning, is likely to raise some eyebrows.
Consider those eyebrows raised.
When asked about the president's 13-point lead, Bloomberg News editor Al Hunt expressed his doubts.
"I’m not sure about that, he said. "But I do believe the poll in the sense that if you look at it carefully what’s more interesting and important is if you look at both guys, they have real trouble. People don’t think Obama’s doing very well on the economy two-to-one. They think the country is headed off on the wrong track; they give him low grades on jobs, on trade with China and a whole host of things.
Hunt is quick to point out that things are no better for Romney. According to the poll, 55 percent view Romney as out of touch.
"Contrary to popular opinion, he has not come back from the primaries. His numbers are terrible. People don’t think he can create jobs; people think he’s out of touch and an elitist. They don’t seem to like him."
Morning Joe and MSBNC regular, Ezra Klein weighed in on the poll this morning on his blog:
"The poll is pretty clearly an outlier. The proper way to report this poll is not “Obama Holds Wide Lead Over Romney.” It’s that an outlier poll shows Obama with a wide lead, and it will be interesting to see if any subsequent polls reproduce its findings. We all know, theoretically, that the sampling polls do means that one in every 20 polls or so is very, very wrong. When that poll comes along, we shouldn’t report its findings as a fact about the world."
Bloomberg's numbers are also quite different from the Wall Street Journal's latest poll, which has the president leading 47 percent to 43 percent.
What do you think about the poll?
Leave a Comment:
I think the American people are divided. Which means their government is divided, unable to address the many of the greatest challenges facing the nation. United we can stand. Divided, we will likely fall.
I think any polls at this time are not reliable. The disparity is obvious and I believe most people are either not focused, don't have strong feelings, or are capable of changing their feelings. The media has to address these poll numbers but I hope not draw too many conclusions for the sake of good TV.
If people would only read what is in the RYAN budget plan it wont be close.That is what you will get with MITT.
I believe the American people are finally getting tired of the lies, game playing and the lack of specific answers the Republicans have been engaging in. I also believe we are tired of having our intelligence insulted on a daily basis. Thank God hopefully the polls will only get better for President Obama as the months go by.
I think the poll is slated toward Obama.....media brainwashing. Like follow the crowd...I think not.
The straights the econojmy is in now is directly related to the republican beliefs and policies otherwise they wouold find some common ground with the progresssives to get this country going. The house controlled by republicans has stalled every reasonable program to spuron the jobs and help the people get back ontheir feet. Our economy is now being runby republicans, it is not the presidents fault, he has done all he can to get cooperation and they made it clear their first priority is to make Obama aoneterm president. If that happens we are all in trouble, the rich corporations and the middle classs.
Tim Pawlenty never won a majority of the vote in (the red?) Minnesota.
I believe the pll is true. They may not be that crazy about Obama but when compared to Romney he is far ahead. Romney is unstable, won't tell what his psitions are, and is primarily interested in the rich.
The fact is in eight of the eleven national polls Obama is ahead (with a +13 a +7, two +4's, two +3's and two +1's), Romney is ahead in only two (two +2's) with the remaining one a tie. So draw your own conclusions. Source: Real Clear Politics