Poll Watch: Rasmussen (R) Virginia 2012 Presidential Survey

Rasmussen (R) Virginia 2012 Presidential Poll

• Barack Obama 47% (44%) {51%} [49%] (45%) 
• Mitt Romney 47% (45%) {42%} [43%] (46%)  

Among Independents

• Mitt Romney 53% (52%) [40%]
  
• Barack Obama 35% (35%) [45%]

Among Men

• Mitt Romney 55%
• Barack Obama 37%

Among Women

• Barack Obama 55% 
• Mitt Romney 40%

Favorable / Unfavorable {Net}

• Mitt Romney 53% (47%) / 46% (50%) {+7%}
  

How would you rate the job Barack Obama has been doing as President?

• Strongly approve 35% (33%) {34%} [31%]
• Somewhat approve 14% (14%) {19%} [20%]
• Somewhat disapprove 10% (8%) {5%} [8%]
• Strongly disapprove 40% (43%) {40%} [38%]

Are Barack Obama and Mitt Romney the best two people to be running for President?

• Yes 25%
• No 62%

When looking at a choice between Obama and Romney, is it a choice you are excited about or will you simply be voting for the lesser of two evils?

• Excited about choices 53%
• Voting for lesser of two evils 40%

Generally speaking, is Mitt Romney’s track record in business primarily a reason to vote for him or vote against him?

• Reason to vote for him 46%
• Reason to vote against him 35%

Who would do a better job managing the economy: Mitt Romney or Barack Obama?

• Mitt Romney 48%
• Barack Obama 43%

Survey of 500 likely voters was conducted June 3, 2012. The margin of error is +/- 4.5 percentage points. Results from the poll conducted April 23, 2012 are in parentheses.  Results from the poll conducted March 20, 2012 are in curly brackets.  Results from the poll conducted February 21, 2012 are in square brackets.  Results from the poll conducted September 28, 2011 are in parentheses.

Inside the numbers:

While Obama draws support from 95% of Virginia Democratic voters, Romney is backed by just 81% of voters in his own party.

While 11% of all Virginia voters prefer a candidate with mostly political experience, 10% prefer one with mostly business experience. But an overwhelming majority (76%) favors a candidate with a combination of political and business experience. Perhaps not surprisingly, Romney holds a wide lead among those who a favor candidate with a strong business background, while Obama draws heavy support from those who favor a candidate with more political experience. Romney holds a slight 49% to 45% edge among those who favor a combination of the two.

Forty-two percent (42%) of Old Dominion voters agree with Romney on most important issues, while another eight percent (8%) say they agree with him on just about everything. By comparison, 36% agree with the president on most important issues, and twelve percent (12%) more agree with him on nearly everything.

When it comes to the candidates themselves, 53% of Virginia voters believe Obama and Romney disagree on most important issues, while another 31% believe they disagree on just about everything.