Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Obama Slipping in NM

Is New Mexico about to rejoin the ranks of the swing states?

According to the latest Public Policy Polling survey, President Barack Obama's lead over Republican Mitt Romney has slipped  here since April.
Obama in Santa Fe 2008
Photo by Anton Terrell

Of the 724 New Mexicans surveyed between Friday and Monday, 42 percent said they would vote for Obama, 38 percent said they'd vote for Romney and 13 percent said they would choose former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who will be on the November ballot.

In April, Obama was leading Romney by 13 percentage points (in the question including Johnson in the race.)

According to PPP's polling memo, Obama's decline is not because of independent voters,  "... the movement comes from a drop in the support he receives from within his own party. 21percent of Democrats said that they preferred Romney in the presidential race, up from 12 percent in April."

Obama has also lost support among both Hispanics and whites. With Hispanics, the president has gone from a 37 point lead to a 22 point lead, the poll said.

And if Gov. Susana Martinez was Romney's running mate, Obama would only have a one-point lead over the Republican. Howver Martinez has insisted she would not accept the nomination because of family reasons.

Johnson's support in a three-way race has dropped two points here since April.

The poll showed Obama's approval rating dropping nine points in this state since April. The new poll showed as many people disapproving of Obama as approving. (Both at 48 percent.)

The margin of error is 3.6 percent.