Obama in Healthy Lead for 2012 Election: Polls

President Barack Obama is well ahead of his potential Republican contenders for the 2012 presidential election.
Obama in Healthy Lead for 2012 Election: Polls
President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee event at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
5/11/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/113973754.jpg" alt="President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee event at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)" title="President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee event at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1804168"/></a>
President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee event at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Despite facing serious doubts about his dealing with the U.S. economy, President Barack Obama is well ahead of his potential Republican contenders for the 2012 presidential election, according to recently released polls.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed that 45 percent of Americans believe Obama will win re-election, a 10-point surge from a Reuters/Ipsos survey taken before November’s congressional elections.

The promising results for the president suggest that voters approved of the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It appears unlikely that Obama will be dislodged by a Republican rival.

Even compared to his closest Republican contenders, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Obama is in a healthy lead.

Obama leads Huckabee by 51 percent to 39 percent, and is ahead of Romney by 51 percent to 38 percent.

“Most people don’t know much about any of these [Republicans], and plus there is always an advantage for the incumbent,” said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark, as quoted by Reuters.

In a poll The Associated Press released on Wednesday, 53 percent of Americans said that Obama deserves to be re-elected, while 43 percent said otherwise. Back in March, 50 percent said he should be re-elected, while as many as 47 percent said he should not.

The AP poll, conducted between March 5 and 7 among 1,001 adults, found that 60 percent of respondents approve of Obama’s job performance, compared to 39 percent who disapprove. It was Obama’s best rating since May 2009, when 64 percent of Americans approved of his job performance months after his inauguration.

Despite the president’s surge in the Reuters/Ipsos and AP polls, a Gallup Poll published on Wednesday indicated that Obama is still running neck and neck with his unnamed Republican rival.

Given a choice between Obama and an unnamed Republican, 43 percent of registered voters said they will more likely vote for Obama, while 40 percent said they will more likely vote for the Republican.

Even though the Gallup Poll, conducted between May 5 and 8, did not show a re-election surge, the poll does signify a seven-point rise in Obama’s overall job approval rating, from 47 percent to 54 percent.