Last week’s Democratic convention helped President Obama improve his standing against Republican Mitt Romney with all voters but failed to change underlying public perceptions of his job performance, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Among the smaller, more rigorous, sample of likely voters the presidential race remains exceedingly close, but the survey also shows when compared to Romney Obama is gaining strength on key issues in the campaign.
Graphic
Conventions stiffen partisans, leave fundamentals unchanged
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bad news for President Obama"/>Chris Cillizza
You might think that what happens in Chicago has little effect on the politics of Washington and the presidential race. But, you’d be wrong.
The new poll shows Obama at 49 percent and Romney is at 48 percent among likely voters, virtually unchanged from a survey taken just before the conventions. Among a wider sample or all registered voters, Obama holds an apparent edge, topping Romney 50 to 44 percent. Before the conventions, the two ran neck-and-neck among all voters, with the new results again underscoring how critical get-out-the vote efforts are likely to be to the election’s outcome.
The survey represents the initial public reaction to the two back-to-back national conventions. With only Labor Day weekend separating the Tampa and Charlotte events, and the barrage of television advertising and campaign activity preceding them, the conventions’ impact on the campaign may be less than in previous years.
Historically, candidates often get an immediate boost from their party’s convention, with some of the shift dissipating quickly. Obama has a six-point edge among all voters entirely based on the strength of Friday interviews, the day after the Democratic convention wrapped-up. In Saturday and Sunday interviews, the two were about evenly matched among registered voters.
The new poll highlights why Obama continues to try to frame the election as a choice between himself and runningmate Joe Biden on the one side and Romney and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan on the other, while Romney wants to make the November balloting as much as possible a referendum on the president’s record.
Obama’s relative strength emerges when all voters were asked to compare the two presidential contenders on a series of issues and attributes. On 15 items in the poll, Obama has significant leads on eight, Romney on zero. Romney also no longer has the pre-convention advantages he held over the president on dealing with the economy and what had been his best issue, handling the federal budget deficit.
The president holds double-digit advantages on areas of particular focus at his party’s nominating convention, including addressing women’s issues (Obama leads Romney by 21 percentage points), advancing the interests of the middle class (15 points) and social issues such as abortion and gay marrage (11 points). Obama also has a newly minted, albeit slender on dealing with taxes.
Three new questions emphasize Obama’s advantage over Romney when it comes to personal attributes. By a nearly 20-point margin, voters are more apt to say they would like Obama, not Romney as a dinner guest, and the president also leads by double-digits as American voters would want to take care of them if they were sick and who would make a more loyal friend.
Among the smaller, more rigorous, sample of likely voters the presidential race remains exceedingly close, but the survey also shows when compared to Romney Obama is gaining strength on key issues in the campaign.
Graphic
Conventions stiffen partisans, leave fundamentals unchanged
More from PostPolitics
Aaron Blake THE FIX | Connecticut’s Senate race is moving in Republicans’ favor and is now firmly in play in 2012.
Josh Hicks FACT CHECKER | An abortion survivor who says she was discarded at birth said he voted against rights for born-alive infants.
bad news for President Obama"/>Chris Cillizza You might think that what happens in Chicago has little effect on the politics of Washington and the presidential race. But, you’d be wrong.
The new poll shows Obama at 49 percent and Romney is at 48 percent among likely voters, virtually unchanged from a survey taken just before the conventions. Among a wider sample or all registered voters, Obama holds an apparent edge, topping Romney 50 to 44 percent. Before the conventions, the two ran neck-and-neck among all voters, with the new results again underscoring how critical get-out-the vote efforts are likely to be to the election’s outcome.
The survey represents the initial public reaction to the two back-to-back national conventions. With only Labor Day weekend separating the Tampa and Charlotte events, and the barrage of television advertising and campaign activity preceding them, the conventions’ impact on the campaign may be less than in previous years.
Historically, candidates often get an immediate boost from their party’s convention, with some of the shift dissipating quickly. Obama has a six-point edge among all voters entirely based on the strength of Friday interviews, the day after the Democratic convention wrapped-up. In Saturday and Sunday interviews, the two were about evenly matched among registered voters.
The new poll highlights why Obama continues to try to frame the election as a choice between himself and runningmate Joe Biden on the one side and Romney and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan on the other, while Romney wants to make the November balloting as much as possible a referendum on the president’s record.
Obama’s relative strength emerges when all voters were asked to compare the two presidential contenders on a series of issues and attributes. On 15 items in the poll, Obama has significant leads on eight, Romney on zero. Romney also no longer has the pre-convention advantages he held over the president on dealing with the economy and what had been his best issue, handling the federal budget deficit.
The president holds double-digit advantages on areas of particular focus at his party’s nominating convention, including addressing women’s issues (Obama leads Romney by 21 percentage points), advancing the interests of the middle class (15 points) and social issues such as abortion and gay marrage (11 points). Obama also has a newly minted, albeit slender on dealing with taxes.
Three new questions emphasize Obama’s advantage over Romney when it comes to personal attributes. By a nearly 20-point margin, voters are more apt to say they would like Obama, not Romney as a dinner guest, and the president also leads by double-digits as American voters would want to take care of them if they were sick and who would make a more loyal friend.