Feb. 18, 2012
Des Moines Register
President Barack Obama trails three of the four Republican candidates in head-to-head match-ups if the election were held today, according to a new Iowa Poll.
The Republican with the biggest lead: Ron Paul, who would defeat Obama by 7 percentage points, 49 percent to 42 percent. Rick Santorum, winner of the 2012 Iowa caucuses, leads Obama 48 percent to 44 percent. Mitt Romney, edged in the caucuses by Santorum, leads Obama 46 percent to 44 percent.
The president defeats only Newt Gingrich, 51 percent to 37 percent.
Iowa is considered a swing state in the general election, critical to Obama’s re-election or victory by the Republican nominee.
Iowa Democrats made Obama the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses, launching him on his road to the White House. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain in Iowa by nearly 10 percentage points.
But Obama is in trouble in Iowa today, hampered by negative perceptions of the job he is doing as president. More Iowans disapprove (48 percent) than approve (46 percent). That’s just one percentage point above his all-time low in job approval, 45 percent in September 2010.
Additional poll results and analysis will be published in the Des Moines Sunday Register and at DesMoinesRegister.com.
The Iowa Poll is a Register exclusive since 1943. The new poll was conducted Feb. 12-15 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. It surveyed 800 Iowa adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Election questions were asked of 611 likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
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