21st Century Mormon--Romney's Weaknesses

The Washington Post-ABC poll is out this morning and it is quite revealing about President Obama's strengths and Romney's weaknesses.


Deep in the tabs of the poll are character questions, which I believe eventually will become paramount in deciding the presidential contest. Here, President Obama cleans up.


Stronger leader: President Obama--46; Romney--40.
Likeable and friendly:       Obama--64; Romney--26.
Better Vision of the future: Obama-45; Romney--40.
Inspiring:                            Obama--55; Romney--29.
Consistent:                          Obama--46; Romney--36.


On Issues, Republicans have lost their old stand-by--foreign policy and defense.


On international affairs, who can handle better:
                                            Obama--53; Romney--36.
On Terrorism:                     Obama--47; Romney--40.


On women's issues the poll shows the gender gap others have recorded. Who can manage women's issues?
                                            Obama--53; Romney--34.
On Health Care:                  Obama--48; Romney--38.
On Social Issues (abortion) Obama--48; Romney--38.


Karl Rove's group Crossroads yesterday remarked that President Obama was beginning to win over Americans to his views on taxes.


The poll shows that on the issue of taxes,
                                            Obama is preferred by 45; Romney 42.


Who cares about the Middle Class?
                                            Obama--49; Romney 39.


On the issue of jobs and small business, Obama has a slight lead over Romney. On the overall economy, Romney leads Obama by 47 to 43.


President Obama's approval rating now is at 50%. He would beat Romney today among registered voters by 51 to 44, and among all voters 51 to 43. 


Romney's only strong suit is managing the budget deficit. Here he leads 51 to 38 over the President. And he has a slight lead on energy policy.


The reason the lead is not as large as the internal polling would indicate is that only 33% believe the country is heading in the Right direction and the majority believe we are still in a recession. Romney has an 8pt lead over Obama in males and a stunning 57-38 lead among whites without a college degree.  Among the college educated, Obama has a 12 pt. lead on better understanding the economic problems facing Americans. Romney has a 48-46 lead over Obama among independents. 


I thought the poll may have over-sampled independents and under-sampled Republicans. But the overwhelming impression was that Obama brings to the election character and empathy, which voters find lacking in Romney.