President Barack Obama leads the field of Republican candidates in Ohio. According to the latest Public Policy Polling poll, Mr. Obama crushes Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich among general election voters in a hypothetical general election.
Mr. Obama also polled well against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Mr. Obama bested Rick Santorum by 6 percentage points and Mr. Romney by 7 percentage points.
Mr. Paul, who outraised Newt Gingrich in the fourth quarter 2011, is focused on the upcoming caucus states of Nevada, Maine, Minnesota and Colorado. Although Mr. Paul finish in last place in the Florida Republican presidential primary, the Texas congressman plans on staying in the race until the Republican convention in August. Mr. Gingrich has also confirmed that he will stay in the race until the GOP convention.
Despite the results of Public Policy Polling’s Ohio poll, Mr. Paul is one of two Republican candidates who stacks up well against Mr. Obama in a hypothetical general election. According to a USA Today/Gallup poll, Mr. Obama defeated Mr. Paul by 3 percentage points in a hypothetical general election. Only Mr. Romney fared better than the Texas congressman against Mr. Obama.
“We’ve now found Barack Obama with a solid lead in Ohio on our last two polls,” Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling, said in a press release.
“Obama’s benefiting from the weakness of the Republican candidate field, but his own numbers are on the rise as well. We’ve found that if he can win just one state out of Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina he’s likely to be reelected so these numbers bode very well for his prospects,” Mr. Debnam added.
Public Policy Polling interviewed 820 Ohio voters on January 28th and 29th. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
