RALEIGH, N.C. -- A new poll by Public Policy Polling shows a rough ride ahead for the Republicans who hope that the road to the White House goes through Ohio.
The new numbers, released Wednesday, show President Obama leading all four of the remaining contenders for the GOP presidential nomination among Ohio general election voters. He leads the frontrunner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney by seven points, 49%-42%, and Romney's closest rival, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, by an even wider margin of 12 points, 51%-39%.
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania performs best among the Republicans in the hunt for the GOP nomination, trailing Obama by 6 points, 48%-42%, while U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is down 10 points, 48%-38%.
Conducted Jan. 28-29 among 820 Ohio voters, the survey also showed Ohioans are split on the job Obama is doing, with 48% approving and 48% disapproving, up from the 41%-49% approval-disapproval recorded when PPP last polled Ohio in November.
At the same time, the increasingly bitter GOP primary has soured the Ohioans polled on the Republican field, with all four recording net negative favorability ratings. Gingrich fared worst among the GOP contenders, with a 25% favorable rating and 59% unfavorable rating, followed by Paul's 27%-57%, Romney's 28%-56%, and Santorum's 35%-48%.
While Obama enjoys an 82% job approval and 12% disapproval among his fellow Democrats, the poll showed, the Republican field suffers from defections in their own party -- 36% of Republicans view Gingrich unfavorably, 36% view Romney unfavorably, 23% view Santorum unfavorably, and a full 56% of Republicans view Paul unfavorably.
"We've now found Barack Obama with a solid lead in Ohio on our last two polls," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. "Obama's benefiting from the weakness of the Republican candidate field, but his own numbers are on the rise as well. We've found that if he can win just one state out of Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina he's likely to be reelected so these numbers bode very well for his prospects."
The Ohio Democratic Party touted the PPP numbers, focusing in particular on Romney, who the party's surrogates have long targeted as Obama's likely opponent in the general election. A statement issued by the party characterized Romney's 28% favorability rating as "below [Gov.] John Kasich-levels," and pointed out that twice as many Ohioans have an unfavorable view of him.
"It's not surprising that Mitt Romney is disliked by a vast majority of Ohioans before he even campaigns here -- Ohioans have noticed that he favors the wealthy over the middle class, wanted to let the auto industry die, has made a hard turn to the right to placate the Tea Party and "isn't concerned about the very poor," as he said this morning," said the Ohio Democrats' chairman, Chris Redfern.
Romney's awkward comment on CNN Wednesday morning -- that he isn't concerned about the very poor -- "We have a safety net there," he continued -- quickly became fodder for Democrats and Republicans alike.
Published 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.