Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had edged in front of President Obama, as more voters say Romney has strong leadership qualities than say the same about the incumbent president, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released early Wednesday.
Romney leads Obama, 46 percent to 42 percent, just inside the survey's margin of error. Three percent of registered voters say they would vote for someone else, two percent say they would not vote, and seven percent were undecided.
On the question of whether Obama has strong leadership qualities, voters are split right down the middle: 49 percent say that he does, and 49 percent say he does not. But when asked if Romney has those same qualities, 55 percent say he does, while only 24 percent say he does not.
Obama does score better on caring "about the needs and problems of people like you": 54 percent say the president cares, and just 43 percent say he doesn't. Just 43 percent say Romney cares, compared to 35 percent who say he does not.
But Romney outpaces Obama on other key questions. Romney's favorable/unfavorable split is at 39 percent favorable/28 percent unfavorable, a healthy 11-point spread that is also in double-digits among independent voters.
As for Obama, his favorability rating has fallen significantly over the past five weeks: Today, a majority of voters have an unfavorable opinion of him, easily a new low: just 42 percent view him favorably, while 53 percent view him unfavorably. Three-in-five white voters have an unfavorable opinion of the president. [emphasis added]
Four in 10 Americans “strongly” disapprove of how President Obama is handling job as president in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the highest that number has risen during his time in office and a sign of the hardening opposition to him as he seeks a second term.
While the topline numbers are troubling enough, dig deeper into them and the news gets no better for Obama. Forty-three percent of independents — a group the president spent the better part of the last year courting — strongly disapprove of the job he is doing. Forty seven percent of people 65 years of age and older — reliable voters in any election — strongly disapprove of how he is doing his job.
Overall self-reported daily U.S. consumer spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online averaged $65 per day in September, down from $68 in August and from the 2011 high of $74 in July. After two months of declines, spending has now returned to March and April levels, which are some of the lowest of the year.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke noted in his testimony before Congress on Tuesday that "Consumer behavior has both reflected and contributed to the slow pace of recovery." Gallup Daily tracking results suggest that is indeed the case. The pullback in consumer spending over the past two months coincides with an economic slowdown and a sharp decline in economic confidence. In turn, the decline in consumer spending does not bode well for the U.S. economy or the nation's retailers during the important holiday season.
