Registered voters by a significant margin now say they are more likely to vote for the "Republican Party's candidate for president" than for President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, 47% to 39%. Preferences had been fairly evenly divided this year in this test of Obama's re-election prospects.
This is bad news for the President. The fact that the incumbent President is polling at only 39% less than 15 months from the election against a generic opponent demonstrates just how weak he is. Thirty-nine percent is basically the Democratic base, with a plurality looking to vote for "anyone but Obama."
I said last December that Obama-mania was never real. Obama won the White House on nebulous promises of hope and change, against a weak Republican candidate who was despised by the Republican base. But two and a half years later, Obama has a record. We have seen the budget deficit explode thanks to Obama's reckless spending and we have seen the economy mired in a terrible slump.
This poll is especially noteworthy because none of the Republican candidates has managed to light a fire under the Republican base. Combine this with the total rejection of the Democratic Party in the 2010 election, and 2012 is looking very good for the eventual Republican nominee.
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