More than half of American voters dislike Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, according to a poll released Thursday.
By a margin of 52 percent to 37 percent, more voters said they
had an unfavorable view of Romney, the national survey by the Pew
Research Center for the People & the Press shows.
Romney's personal favorability improved substantially between
March and June, as Republican voters rallied behind him after the
primary season ended, but his image has again slipped over the past
month, the poll shows.
U.S. President Barack Obama's image remains more positive, with
50 percent of voters offering a favorable assessment, compared with
45 percent who dislike him. Even so, Obama's personal ratings are
lower than most presidential candidates in recent U.S. presidential
elections.
Obama continues to hold a sizable lead over Romney in the
election contest, with 51 percent voters say they support Obama or
lean towards him, compared with 41 percent who support or lean
towards Romney, according to the poll.
In the eight Pew Research Center surveys conducted since January,
Obama has led Romney by between four and 12 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Obama holds only a four-point edge (48 percent to 44
percent) across 12 of this year's key battleground states.
In recent months, though he has been slightly ahead of Romney,
neither candidate has held a significant advantage, said the poll.
The battle for independent voters remains tight, as the poll
finds that 45 percent of independent voters support Romney, compared
with 43 percent who back Obama, which virtually remains unchanged
from July. Over the course of the year, neither candidate holds a
consistent advantage.
The poll was conducted on July 16-26 among 2,508 American adults,
prior to Romney's recent overseas trip to Europe and the Middle
East.
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