Poll: Voters fear worse economy with Obama

Poll: Voters fear worse economy with Obama

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By David Jackson, USA TODAY

President Obama

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By Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

President Obama not only has a political problem with the economy, but with voters' confidence in his ability to handle it.

By a margin of 44-11%, voters say the economy is getting worse, not better, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll -- and only 29% say the economy will get better if Obama is re-elected.

The Quinnipiac poll also says that voters believe Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would do a better job on the economy than Obama, by a margin of 49-39%; Rick Perry gets the nod over Obama by a margin of 45-42%.

Overall, visitors disapprove of the job President Obama is doing, by a margin of 55-41%.

"The trend isn't good for President Barack Obama," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "His disapproval has gone up 9% since the summer, from 46% in July to 52% in September to 55% today."


Some good news for Obama in the Quinnipiac poll: More voters continue to blame predecessor George W. Bush for the state of the bad economy, by a margin of 51-32%.

"The political challenge for the president will be whether he can make voters believe his eventual GOP opponent is a carbon copy of the former president," Brown said. "The fact that voters are unsure whether the economy will improve if he is re-elected is not a good sign for Obama."

Brown also said: "The president is stuck at a politically unhealthy level for someone who wants to be re-elected. His standing with the American people is obviously closely related to their views of the economy."

More from the new Quinnpiac poll:

The president's job approval among Democrats, 77-18%, is lower than his disapproval among Republicans, 91-7%. Independent voters disapprove 56-38%.
Men disapprove 60-36% and women disapprove 51-46%. Black voters approve 81-15%, but disapproval is 62-34% among white voters and 50-45% among Hispanic voters.

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