according to a new poll.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-romney-in-dead-heat-on-economyobama-romney-in-dead-heat-on-economypoll-obama-romney-in-dead-heat/2012/05/21/gIQA0qKwgU_story.html?hpid=z1Since the Republicans spent the last week trumpeting a poll that showed Romney in the lead, I thought we might want to discuss this new one.
On the surface, I'd say that this is good news for Obama and bad news for Romney. If Obama, after three years of a pretty sluggish economy, underwhelming job growth and a horrendous housing market, is still managing to tie Romney on economic competence, well, that is absolutely a good sign for the Democrats. If Romney can't stake out an advantage in this field, one on which that he himself has said the election will hinge, he is never going to become the 45th president.
On the other hand, some numbers further into the poll don't looks so good for the Democrats:
Specifically:
"Asked where they stand financially compared with when Obama took office in January 2009, 30 percent say they are worse off, and only 16 percent say they are better off. There is not a widespread sense that things would be better had Romney been president for the past three-plus years, but for the incumbent it is a critical measure.
On this question, Obama’s numbers continue to resemble those of George H.W. Bush, who lost his bid for reelection in 1992 amid a flagging economy."
Despite that though, Obama is pulling even with Romney on the economy issue? Ouch..
