Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama holds double digit leads over the top two GOP presidential candidates, according to a new national survey.
A Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll released Monday indicates Obama topping former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 53% to 43% in a hypothetical general election matchup, with the president leading former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania 53% to 42%.
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Matched up against a generic GOP opponent in the general election (an unnamed candidate who has not suffered negative attacks during the primary process), Obama has a five-point advantage (50%-45%), up from a dead heat back in November. It's also telling that the president is at or above 50% in all three general election matchups.
A new national poll from USA Today/Gallup tells a different story. According to the survey, which was also released Monday, Obama and Romney are deadlocked at 47% in a hypothetical matchup, with Santorum holding a 49%-46% margin over the president.
The Battleground poll indicates that the debates, caucuses and primaries appear to be taking a toll on Romney, with 51% of independent voters holding a unfavorable opinion of him, compared to just 33% who see him in a positive light. Among independents, Romney trails the president by 22 points in the hypothetical general election matchup. Forty percent of independents have a favorable view of Santorum, with 32% saying they see him in a negative way.
Among Republicans only, the battle for the GOP nomination appears to be all tied up, with Santorum at 36% and Romney at 34%. Santorum's two-point margin is within the poll's sampling error. The survey is similar to the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll's numbers on the Republican horse race.
Four out of ten say that Romney has run the most negative campaign, followed by Gingrich at 33% and Santorum and Paul each at 4%, with nearly one in five unsure.
The Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll was conduced between February 19 and February 22, with 1,000 likely voters nationwide questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
The USA Today/Gallup poll was conducted between February 20 and February 21, with 881 registered voters questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.
This should get all the Repub supporters panties in a knot.
Now they can start screaming "the poll is a fake"
CNN is just an Obama lover.
Its all propaganda (chuckle).
Too bad.
Oh, we forgot to mention, the survey asked 1,500 democrats, 2 independents, and 3 dead republicans who voted in Chicago's last election.
Great news for the President. Republican race is in a mess. I have not seen any discussion about jobs, education , poverty etc in their debate. They have so much anger against this president that they have lost the civility. Even for the common man and scientist they do not have any respect. Look some of the quotes:
Phoney theology
Junk science
snob
Corporations are people
If I am president then gas will be $2/gallon
IT is not going to fly with American people.
Why publish poll numbers of 1000 people? thats laughable. Is this how they do the polls? They should have kept those details to themselves. I never took these polls too seriously, but now I wont even look any more. They are waisting their money and your time.
Really POLITICO??? I can't find anyone in my area who would vote for Obama so they must be polling the people with their hand out!
Go Get'um President Obama
I'm shocked!!! LOL!!! Not at all, really. Who in their right mind would vote for any of those lying pandering hypocrites on the right anyway?
Let me guess, conservatives will dismiss this as Obama's lie machine at work.
Let me see. Obama has had no debates so far. No criticism from the press. His lap dogs have attacked and attacked and attacked and lied and lied and lied. Sorry have to go. The gas pump is registering over $50.00 at the moment.
Where did they do the poll?? The Obama campaign HQ????
Music to my ears! I am praying that President Obama is re-elected in a landslide reminiscent of Ronald Reagan in 1984
I doubt this is too surprising to most folks. The present GOP line-up is a "Clown Car."
Goes to show you that a majority of Americans would still like to be led by a Socialist, Muslem who pals around with terrorists more than they would a conservative who wants to roll the clock back to 1902.
It's just a poll and it is months till November, but still ... Nice. Hope more continue to see the light.
The GOP put wrecked the economy under Bush and has done nothing but obstruct Obama's every effort to fix it since.
It's amazing that they have any support at all.
Meaningless right now, so why even bother? Too much can change between now and November.
The new GOP promotes fear, intolerance, and greed along with a healthy dose of hate. It certainly isn't the party of Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, and Eisenhower anymore. It appears to be composed of the wealthiest corporate types, the religious fanatics who want to dictate to the rest of us, the libertarians who are still living in the 1850's, militarists, and the ignorant haters...you know, they hate people of color, immigrants, environmentalists, the college educated, and host of others. So is it a surprise that President Obama leads in the polls? I'm not sure why anyone would support these arrogant candidates. The best of the lot, J. Huntsman, couldn't talk common sense to what has become the an extreme party hijacked by the tea party. America simply doesn't deserve what Republicans are offering.
It's easy to see why Obama is ahead. The GOP'ers have self-destructed on social and economical issues. I have NEVER voted for a party, but rather the person. It takes intelligence to separate the two, rather than blindly follow the missives of a party. Watch and listen how words are twisted and then justified. I would not trust any of the Republican candidates except perhaps for the entertaining Paul. However, he's a little too radical on some issues, but you can't help but like the guy. The other candidates are smelling blood in the water, and they will say and do anything, including Santorum feeling like he must sound like more of a preacher than a leader.
Of course President Obama is ahead in the polls, all the republican candidates are terrible.
all this anti-women rights, focusing on non-economic issues, big social government proposals, and plain uneducated statements from these GOP candidates has just fired up the democratic base. you all are in for one heck of a beat down come November.
The Republican Party is a joke. They don't care about the middle class all they care about is the rich.
This comes as no surprise, and I would imagine his lead will grow even larger as the months progress. The Republican candidates are not even bothering to hide their disdain for the working and middle class in this country anymore. Even the least politically-savvy voter is able to figure this out. I predict pretty much of a landslide in November for Obama.
Neither Santorum or Romney stand a chance.
While I don't think Obama was a complete failure he did not live up to my expectations and I had hopes someone better would come along. Unfortunately with what the GOP has given us it pretty much locks in another Obama win come Nov. Oh well, I guess it could be worse.
Latest Poll = 53% of Americans are sane, 43% of Americans are insane.
Another stunning testament to the incompetence of the GOP. This is what happens when your candidates blatantly cater to the 1% and religious fanatics.