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July 10, 2012

Obama leads in both VA and NC

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For all the twists and turns of his presidency and his re-election campaign so far, President Obama finds himself in very similar shape in two states he surprised the world by winning four years ago as he was then.

Obama has retaken a narrow lead in North Carolina a month after having ceded his edge over Mitt Romney for the first time since last October.  In early June, PPP showed Romney with a two-point edge in the crucial Tar Heel State (48-46).  But now Obama leads by one point (47-46) in a state he took by less than a point four years ago.

spacer Meanwhile, Obama is up eight points in N.C.’s northern neighbor Virginia (50-42).  He topped Romney by an identical margin when PPP last polled the Old Dominion in April (51-43), and beat John McCain by only six points there.

This slight regression in Romney’s fortunes in North Carolina comes as the Obama campaign has hit the Republican candidate repeatedly over his tenure at Bain Capital.  40% of Tar Heel voters say what they know of Romney’s time there makes them feel more negatively about him, with only 29% saying it makes them more positive toward him.  27% say Romney’s Bain record makes no difference to them.

The Obama ads seem to be having the desired effect of cutting down on the number of conservative Democrats who are voting for Romney in North Carolina.  The Republican’s support across the aisle is down from 20% to 13% in the span of a month.  At the same time, however, his share of the unaffiliated vote is up from 42% to 55%.  But because Democrats are more than twice as numerous as unaffiliateds in the state, the dropoff in Democratic support makes more of a difference in his overall standing.

Obama does not have the same Dixiecrat problem in Virginia as in North Carolina, and Romney has tanked with independents in the horserace.  Obama has a 92-4 lead with Virginia Democrats, identical to the figure three months ago.  But Romney has receded from a 46-44 lead with independents to a 36-47 deficit.  Independents are about a third of voters in Virginia, roughly equal to the size of the two major parties’ bases.

In Tar Heel land, Obama’s 47-50 approval spread is the same as in June, and Romney’s net favorability rating is now at par with the president’s net -3 approval.  44% are favorable toward Romney, and 47% unfavorable, up from 41-46 in the last survey.  But in Virginia, Romney has remained just as unpopular personally as he was when the primary battle was still ostensibly raging.  In April, Romney’s favorability spread was 38-52, and it is now 38-51.  Obama’s approval rating there has hardly budged (50-46 versus 49-47 now).

Last month, PPP’s figures showing Obama with only 76% of North Carolina’s African-American voters and Romney with 20% made some waves.  But that was likely a blip, as he had been in roughly the 85-90% range in previous months.  He is now again at 85%, with Romney down to 12% of the black vote.  The figure is the exact same in Virginia.

Richard Burr continues to be one of the lowest-profile senators in the country; 35% of the North Carolina electorate has no opinion on his job performance, and the others are split at 30% approve and 35% disapprove.  He would have a net zero effect if he were Romney’s running mate—Obama would still lead 47-46.

Likewise, Bob McDonnell would make little difference in Virginia.  His approval spread is down from a somewhat healthy 46-36 in the last poll to only 41-40 now.  But his potential impact on Romney’s chances of taking the state he governs has not changed much if at all.  The Romney-McDonnell ticket would be up to 43%, with Obama-Biden still at 50%.  In April, McDonnell maintained Romney’s eight-point lead.

One Virginia figure who could hurt Romney is former Rep. Virgil Goode.  On the ballot as the Constitution Party candidate, Goode is pulling 9% of the vote, bringing Romney down seven points to 35% and hardly moving Obama to 49%.  When PPP polled on Goode as a third-party candidate in April, he was at 5%, boosting Obama to a 12-point rather than a 14-point lead.

That is entirely because of increased independent support for Goode.  He does not hurt Obama with Democrats, leaving him at 92% with them, but pulls Romney down from 4% to 3% of them, taking the same share himself.  Goode pulls Romney down eight points with Republicans, the same as in April, leaving Obama at 9% of the GOP and also earning 9% of them.  But with independent voters, Goode is now at 17%, up ten points over the last three months.  Most of that support has come from former Romney independents.  He pulls Obama down two points but Romney down ten with these voters, when in April he dragged them each down four.

 “For now Barack Obama’s as strong as he was in the 2008 in the upper South states that he flipped to the Democratic column for the first time in decades in 2008,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “He’s the favorite in Virginia and he looks to be about even money in North Carolina.”

PPP surveyed 775 North Carolina voters and 647 Virginia voters from July 5th to 8th. The margin of error for the North Carolina survey is +/-3.5%, and +/-3.9% for the Virginia survey. This poll was not paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys are conducted through automated telephone interviews.

Topline results are below.  Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.

Virginia Toplines

Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of President
Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve .......................................................... 49%
Disapprove...................................................... 47%
Not sure .......................................................... 4%

Q2 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Mitt Romney?
Favorable........................................................ 38%
Unfavorable .................................................... 51%
Not sure .......................................................... 11%

Q3 If the candidates for President this year were
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt
Romney, who would you vote for?
Barack Obama................................................ 50%
Mitt Romney.................................................... 42%
Undecided....................................................... 8%

Q4 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Bob
McDonnell’s job performance?
Approve .......................................................... 41%
Disapprove...................................................... 40%
Not sure .......................................................... 20%

Q5 If the Democratic ticket was Barack Obama for
President and Joe Biden for Vice President,
and the Republican ticket was Mitt Romney for
President and Bob McDonnell for Vice
President, which would you vote for?
Obama-Biden.................................................. 50%
Romney-McDonnell ........................................ 43%
Undecided....................................................... 7%

Q6 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Eric Cantor?
Favorable........................................................ 22%
Unfavorable .................................................... 41%
Not sure .......................................................... 37%

Q7 If the Democratic ticket was Barack Obama for
President and Joe Biden for Vice President,
and the Republican ticket was Mitt Romney for
President and Eric Cantor for Vice President,
which would you vote for?
Obama-Biden.................................................. 50%
Romney-Cantor .............................................. 38%
Undecided....................................................... 12%

Q8 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Virgil Goode?
Favorable........................................................ 16%
Unfavorable .................................................... 25%
Not sure .......................................................... 59%

Q9 If the candidates for President this fall were
Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt
Romney, and Constitution Party candidate
Virgil Goode, who would you vote for?
Barack Obama................................................ 49%
Mitt Romney.................................................... 35%
Virgil Goode .................................................... 9%
Undecided....................................................... 6%

Q10 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts?
Favorable........................................................ 34%
Unfavorable .................................................... 34%
Not sure .......................................................... 32%

Q11 Do you agree or disagree with the Supreme
Court's ruling on the health care reform bill?
Agree .............................................................. 45%
Disagree ......................................................... 44%
Not sure .......................................................... 11%

Q12 Do you support or oppose the new immigration
policy Barack Obama announced two weeks
ago?
Support ........................................................... 39%
Oppose ........................................................... 43%
Not sure .......................................................... 18%

Q13 Who did you vote for President in 2008?
John McCain................................................... 44%
Barack Obama................................................ 48%
Someone else/Don't remember ...................... 8%

Q14 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ...................................................... 9%
Somewhat liberal ............................................ 19%
Moderate......................................................... 29%
Somewhat conservative.................................. 26%
Very conservative ........................................... 17%

Q15 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ........................................................... 54%
Man................................................................. 46%

Q16 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ........................................................ 33%
Republican...................................................... 33%
Independent/Other.......................................... 34%

Q17 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White .............................................................. 73%
African-American ............................................ 18%
Other............................................................... 9%

Q18 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29........................................................... 12%
30 to 45........................................................... 24%
46 to 65........................................................... 44%
Older than 65.................................................. 20%


North Carolina Toplines

Q1 Do you approve or disapprove of President
Barack Obama’s job performance?
Approve .......................................................... 47%
Disapprove...................................................... 50%
Not sure .......................................................... 3%

Q2 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Mitt Romney?
Favorable........................................................ 44%
Unfavorable .................................................... 47%
Not sure .......................................................... 10%

Q3 If the candidates for President this year were
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mitt
Romney, who would you vote for?
Barack Obama................................................ 47%
Mitt Romney.................................................... 46%
Undecided....................................................... 6%

Q4 Do you approve or disapprove of Senator
Richard Burr’s job performance?
Approve ................. .30%
Disapprove............. .35%
Not sure ................. .35%

Q5 If the Democratic ticket was Barack Obama for
President and Joe Biden for Vice President,
and the Republican ticket was Mitt Romney for
President and Richard Burr for Vice President,
which would you vote for?
Obama-Biden.................................................. 47%
Romney-Burr .................................................. 46%
Undecided....................................................... 7%

Q6 Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion
of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts?
Favorable........................................................ 35%
Unfavorable .................................................... 32%
Not sure .......................................................... 33%

Q7 Does Mitt Romney’s previous experience at
Bain Capital, which specialized in buying,
restructuring, and selling companies, make you
feel more positive or negative about him, or
does it not make a difference?
More Positive.................................................. 29%
More Negative ................................................ 40%
Doesn't make a difference .............................. 27%
Not sure .......................................................... 3%

Q8 Do you agree or disagree with the Supreme
Court's ruling on the health care reform bill?
Agree .............................................................. 44%
Disagree ......................................................... 44%
Not sure .......................................................... 12%

Q9 Do you support or oppose the new immigration
policy Barack Obama announced two weeks
ago?
Support ........................................................... 40%
Oppose ........................................................... 46%
Not sure .......................................................... 14%

Q10 Who did you vote for President in 2008?
John McCain................................................... 48%
Barack Obama................................................ 46%
Someone else/Don't remember ...................... 6%

Q11 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ...................................................... 12%
Somewhat liberal ............................................ 17%
Moderate......................................................... 28%
Somewhat conservative.................................. 24%
Very conservative ........................................... 20%

Q12 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ........................................................... 56%
Man................................................................. 44%

Q13 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ........................................................ 46%
Republican...................................................... 34%
Independent/Other.......................................... 21%

Q14 If you are white, press 1. If African-American,
press 2. If other, press 3.
White .............................................................. 73%
African-American ............................................ 21%
Other............................................................... 6%

Q15 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29........................................................... 10%
30 to 45........................................................... 26%
46 to 65........................................................... 44%
Older than 65.................................................. 20%

Q16 Area Code
252.................................................................. 16%
336.................................................................. 16%
704.................................................................. 18%
828.................................................................. 13%
910.................................................................. 14%
919.................................................................. 22%

Posted by Dustin Ingalls at 11:02 AM in Barack Obama, Bob McDonnell, Eric Cantor, Mitt Romney, North Carolina, Polls, President 2012, Richard Burr, Virginia | Permalink

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