Obama in Dead Heat in Gallup Poll

Obama in Dead Heat with Romney, Perry, Paul, Bachmann in Gallup Poll

August 22, 2011 4:47 PM

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer (@devindwyer) reports: President Obama is in a statistical dead heat when matched with each of four GOP presidential contenders in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up, according to a new Gallup survey of registered voters.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads Obama by a 48 percent to 46 percent margin, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry ties the president at 47 percent. Obama bests Ron Paul by a 47-45 divide and Michele Bachmann by 48-44 split. All results are within a 4-point margin of error.

While Obama has polled consistently close against a generic Republican in recent months, the new findings show the race remains competitive even when specific candidates, each with varying degrees of name recognition and popularity, are juxtaposed with the president.

Obama’s approval rating on the economy, the top election issue among registered voters, hit a new low in Gallup polling last week: Just 26 percent approve of Obama, while 71 percent disapprove. His overall job approval stands at 40 percent.

Still, the latest survey suggests Obama’s approval numbers underestate the support he’d likely receive at the ballot box when matched against a Republican if the election were held today.

With more than a year before Nov. 6, 2012, however, pollsters note the presidential horserace can and will change.

Consider, from Gallup: at this point in 1999, George W. Bush was crushing Al Gore in a Gallup match-up, but then barely beat him on election day. Bob Dole was in a dead heat with Bill Clinton in August 1995 before Clinton later beat him by eight points more than a year later. And, in the summer of 1979, Jimmy Carter was tied with Ronald Reagan before getting walloped at the ballot box in 1980.

August 22, 2011 in 2012, Devin Dwyer

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/08/obama-in-dead-heat-with-romney-perry-paul-bachmann-in-gallup-poll.html

A lot can change in a year, or even a week.

kronos wrote:A lot can change in a year, or even a week.

Yeah, the economy could turn around big time in Obama's favor. Perry could take a shit. Bachmann could get a boob job!

None of those three are going to happen.

Does Perry really shit that infrequently? Perhaps he could use some ex-lax®.

Har de har har.

The "dead heat" part always reminds me of the Leno joke during the Clinton administration:
"If Bill Clinton and Al Gore were to run against each other it would be a dead heat...Gore is dead and Clinton is in heat"