Majority Against Electing Obama in 2012
According to a recent Politico/George Washington University Battleground poll, Barack Obama’s chances for re-election may be dwindling. Only 38% of those polled said that they would vote to re-elect Obama, while 44% would vote to replace him. This could largely be due to the fact that Obama’s disapproval rating is just above 50% and that the GOP is preferred over him to handle the economy and job creation by 8 and 11 points respectively.
However, despite Obama’s low approval ratings and the inevitable gains by the GOP in the coming month, not all is going well for Republicans. The major problem for the GOP is the lack of a premium candidate to run and beat Obama in the general election. As in previous polls, the former, astonishingly dimwitted, Governor of Alaska trails Obama by 9 points in a hypothetical matchup. Many people are not impressed by Sarah Palin’s efforts since she resigned from her governorship, resulting in her high unfavorable numbers.
It is not much of a surprise that Obama would beat Sarah Palin in a hypothetical presidential race, considering Palin’s reputation amongst the majority of Americans. However, the same poll shows Obama narrowly beating Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels in a hypothetical 2012 match up. This result is explainable, as Daniels is unknown by 75% of the population, but would be relatively surprising. If and when Mitch Daniels hits the national stage, more will be heard about his approval rating near 70, his success as governor, and his 18 point victory over his democratic challenger in 2008.
If the political climate continues to trend towards Republicans or stays relatively the same, expect the GOP to have a good shot in the 2012 presidential election. Of course, this also largely depends on who is the nominee: nominate Palin and Obama has another term, nominate a center-right Republican and Obama will have to find a new home.