Obama leads over Romney in key states
WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse
Obama breaks the crucial 50 percent barrier in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. AP photo
U.S. President Barack Obama has opened clear leads over Republican Mitt Romney in three vital states, new polls found Aug. 1, in a scenario likely to see him reelected if repeated in November.Surveys of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania by Quinnipiac University and the New York Times and CBS News showed the Democratic president breaking the crucial 50 percent barrier, less than 100 days before November’s election.
Large numbers of those polled saw Romney unfavorably, in a worrying sign for the presumptive Republican nominee who is trying to refocus his attack on Obama’s record on the stalled economy after a gaffe-strewn overseas tour.
“If today were November 6, President Barack Obama would sweep the key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania and, if history is any guide, into a second term,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. No candidate since 1960 has won the White House without winning two of the trio and Romney’s path to victory is wafer thin unless he captures both the perennial bellwether Ohio and the largest swing state, Florida.
Obama led in the polls by 51 to 45 percent in Florida, by 50 to 44 percent in Ohio and by 53 to 42 percent in Pennsylvania, with his advantage underpinned by his appeal to among women voters.
