A little over a month ahead of US elections,
Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney is still struggling to
improve his personal image with voters, a major Washington-based
pollster said Thursday.
The most recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and
the Press measured a number of traits and issues, and they show
incumbent Barack Obama ahead of his Republican challenger Romney in
almost every area.
In likeability, however, Obama leads by a substantial margin,
officials at the Pew center said in a review of its poll of 3,019
adults, including 2,424 registered voters, across the country
September 12-16.
To the question "which candidate connects well with ordinary
Americans," 66 per cent said Obama, while 23 per cent said Romney.
"This is a pretty good showing for Obama," said Andrew Kohut,
president of the research centre. As for Romney, "his personal image
is his weak point," Kohut told foreign journalists. "He is not seen
as a man of the people."
The poll also showed that both candidates increased their
favorability rating after their respective conventions. Obama's went
from 50 to 55 per cent, while Romney's increased from 37 to 45 per
cent. Kohut said, however, this was also a poor showing for Romney
because even though favourability was up, his unfavourability rating
was 50 per cent.
"No candidate has ever won the presidency with an on balance
negative personal image rating," Kohut said.
The reason for his low ratings in likeability and favourability
was not Romney's Mormon faith, Kohut said. It had more to do with a
perception that the multimillionaire and one-time private equity
investor is an "elitist," which has caused his support among people
with moderate or low incomes to suffer.
When poll participants were asked about issues such as health
care, abortion and foreign policy, Obama was ahead on all but one -
reducing the federal budget deficit. Forty-six per cent said Romney
would do the best job on that issue, while 43 per cent said Obama
would do better.
The results showed Obama with an 8-point lead -- 51 per cent to 43
per cent -- on the overall question of who the participants would vote
for if the election were held now.
Romney could still turn things around by making a good showing in
the debates, the first of which is scheduled for Wednesday.
Kohut noted that the most important things to voters in this
election are the economy and jobs, according to the poll. Many swing
voters, who are defined as people who are undecided or only leaning
toward a candidate, believed Romney rather than Obama would do best
on creating jobs and reducing the budget deficit.
About 22 per cent of those polled fit the swing voter definition.
Forty-four per cent of them said Romney would do a better job
improving the job situation, while 27 per cent said Obama would do
better. On reducing the federal deficit, 46 per cent said Romney
would do better, while 19 per cent said Obama would do better.
Romney has "got to achieve a lot" in the debates in order to have
a chance to win the race, said Kohut. He noted that the debates have
often changed poll numbers drastically, a boost that Romney will be
looking for before the November 6 vote.
