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   XPost: alt.politics.elections, alt.politics.democrats.d, alt.pol   
   tics.republicans   
   XPost: alt.fifty-plus.friends   
   From: lilhornie@yahoo.com   
      
   "NO ROMNEY FEARS   
      
   IT'S FOUR MORE YEARS"   
      
   -------------------------------------   
   Whew!   
      
   It's all over but the inauguration!   
      
   ==========================   
   "Washington Post polls: Obama lead in Ohio, edge in Fla. hamper Romney   
   path to victory"   
      
      
   By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen   
   Tuesday, September 25, 2012   
      
      
      
   PRESIDENT Obama has grabbed a significant lead over Mitt Romney in   
   Ohio and holds a slender edge in Florida, according to two new polls   
   by The Washington Post, indicating that there are fresh hurdles in the   
   way of the Republican challenger’s best route to victory in the   
   Electoral College.   
      
   Among likely voters, Obama is ahead of Romney in Ohio 52 percent to 44   
   percent. In Florida, the president leads 51 percent to 47 percent, a   
   numerical but not statistically significant edge. Among all registered   
   Florida voters, Obama is ahead by nine percentage points.   
      
   The new numbers come one week after a Washington Post poll in Virginia   
   showed Obama with a clear lead there. More than half of all money   
   spent in the campaign has focused on these three states, and many   
   analysts say Romney has to win two of the three to capture the White   
   House.   
      
   The past few weeks have been difficult for the Romney’s campaign, and   
   the GOP nominee’s advisers vowed to hit the reset button this week.   
   But with the first debate scheduled Oct. 3, Romney is under new   
   pressure to get his campaign refocused.   
      
   The new polls add to the evidence that Obama has benefited most from   
   the two parties’ conventions, a series of sharp, long-distance   
   exchanges and a barrage of television ads. Nationally, polls continue   
   to show a close race but with new-found momentum for Obama in the   
   battleground states that are likely to decide the election.   
      
   There are few plausible ways for Romney to win the election were he to   
   lose both Florida and Ohio, and even losing one of them would make a   
   path to victory exceedingly narrow. No Republican has won the White   
   House without winning Ohio, and Florida, with its 29 electoral college   
   delegates, may be even more vital to Romney’s hopes.   
      
   Both campaigns had thought of Florida as potentially more hospitable   
   to Romney than to the president. But Obama’s competitive standing   
   there — benefiting, as he also did in the Virginia poll, from a huge   
   lead among female voters — spotlights Romney’s recent struggles.   
      
   For its part, Ohio has been the scene of hard-fought campaigns the   
   past three elections and is widely seen as a barometer of economic   
   stress. Obama’s lead in Ohio is built in part on generally positive   
   assessments of his job performance and on head-to-head comparisons   
   with Romney on a series of issues. Slightly more than half of all Ohio   
   voters — 53 percent — give Obama positive marks for in dealing with   
   the economy, with more — 56 percent approving of his overall   
   performance.   
      
   Fully 36 percent of all Ohio voters say they have been contacted by   
   the Obama campaign; 29 percent say they have been contacted by the   
   Romney side.   
      
   Matched against Romney, 50 percent of all voters say they trust the   
   president more to deal with the economy; 43 percent say so of his   
   Republican challenger. By a much wider margin, 57 to 34 percent,   
   registered voters in Ohio say Obama rather than Romney better   
   understands the economic problems that people are facing. Obama also   
   holds a big lead over Romney on who is trusted to advance the   
   interests of the middle class.   
      
   There is far less difference, however, in the confidence voters   
   express about whether the economy would improve more rapidly under a   
   second Obama administration or a Romney White House.   
      
   The federal bailout of the automobile industry has been the focus of   
   considerable debate between the candidates when they have touched down   
   in Ohio. The poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Ohio voters say the   
   loans that went to General Motors and Chrysler were mostly good for   
   the state’s economy.   
      
   Still, most voters in Ohio say the economy is in bad shape. Yet even   
   those people do not entirely blame Obama, with just under half of them   
   saying the bad economy is his fault — about the same as the number who   
   point the finger at the state’s Republican governor, John Kasich.   
      
   Just 38 percent of Ohio voters rate the state’s economy as “excellent”   
   or “good.” Among those who do see things positively, most — 68 percent   
   — give Obama at least some credit for it. Nearly as many — 59 percent   
   — credit Kasich.   
      
   In Ohio, Obama holds double-digit leads over Romney as the one earning   
   more voter trust on five other issues, including Medicare, Medicaid,   
   taxes, social issues and international affairs. He is numerically   
   ahead on two others. Romney’s best issue is the federal budget   
   deficit, where the two run about evenly among all voters and he has an   
   apparent edge among those most likely to vote.   
      
   As was the case in the Virginia poll, Obama benefits in both Florida   
   and Ohio from sizable, double-digit advantages among female voters. In   
   Ohio, male likely voters split about evenly between Obama and Romney.   
   In Florida, 53 percent of men back Romney, and 45 percent support   
   Obama.   
      
   In both states, Romney has the edge among white voters, while Obama   
   wins 91 percent of non-white likely voters in Ohio and 74 percent in   
   Florida.   
      
   Obama’s approval ratings in Florida, like those in Ohio, put him above   
   the critical 50 percent threshold. Overall, 55 percent of Florida   
   voters give him positive marks as president and 52 percent say they   
   approve of his handling of the economy.   
      
   One potential opportunity for Romney in the Sunshine State is that he   
   runs about evenly with the president when it comes to who is trusted   
   to handle the economy. But, by a whopping 60 to 35 percent margin,   
   Florida voters say they trust Obama rather than Romney to advance the   
   interests of the middle class. By 14 percentage points, they side with   
   the president as the one with greater empathy toward people’s economic   
   problems.   
      
   The government’s health-care program for the elderly was the focus of   
   sharp debate in the weeks after Romney selected Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.)   
   as his vice presidential running mate. Today in Florida, the president   
   runs 15 percentage points ahead of his challenger on whom voters would   
   trust more to determine the future of Medicare.   
      
   In general in Florida, Obama’s advantages over Romney on other issues   
   are smaller than those in Ohio, and the two are essentially tied on   
   dealing with the deficit and taxes.   
      
   [Polling manager Peyton M. Craighill and polling analyst Scott Clement   
   contributed to this report.]   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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