Obama’s Weak, Romney’s Weaker in Campaign Performance Ratings - East Idaho News
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Obama’s Weak, Romney’s Weaker in Campaign Performance Ratings

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Getty 062812 ObamaRomneySplit?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1342606742743Joe Raedle/Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — President Obama may get no more than a gentleman’s C for the way he’s running his presidential campaign, but that beats Mitt Romney, whose effort is seen more negatively than positively by the American public, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, with notably softer ratings for Romney in his base than for Obama in his.

After a week in which Romney has struggled to counter questions about his tax records and his tenure at Bain Capital, just 38 percent of Americans express a favorable opinion of the way he’s running his campaign for the presidency, while 49 percent respond unfavorably — an 11-point negative margin.

Obama, for his part, gets an even split in assessments of his campaign efforts, 46-45 percent, favorable-unfavorable, in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates.  (Nine percent are undecided about the way Obama’s handling his campaign, versus a bit more, 14 percent, on Romney’s efforts.)

With the race so close — the pair were precisely tied in an ABC/Post poll last week — views of their effectiveness running their campaigns can matter.  So, of course, will the campaigns themselves, particularly if the race comes down to motivating and turning out base supporters.

Indeed, part of the difference is in the candidates’ core support groups.  Seventy-five percent of Democrats have a favorable opinion of Obama’s campaign management; fewer Republicans, 66 percent, rate Romney’s efforts positively.  And that gap widens by strength of sentiment: Forty-three percent of Democrats hold a “strongly” favorable opinion of Obama’s campaign efforts.  Many fewer Republicans, 28 percent, see Romney’s work on his campaign strongly favorably.

Among independents, 47 percent rate Obama’s campaign positively, as do 41 percent for Romney’s, with more undecided, rather than negative, on Romney.  “Strongly” favorable views among independents are quite low for both candidates, but tilt more toward Obama’s campaign performance, 17 percent, versus Romney’s, 10 percent.

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