Obama holds 'significant lead' over Romney in new national poll

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http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-holds-significant-lead-over-romney-in-new-national-poll-20120712,0,2763802.story

By Paul West

July 12, 2012, 1:48 p.m.

With the election still four months away, President Obama holds “a significant lead” over Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to a new Pew Research Center poll released Thursday.

The national survey, completed July 9, showed Obama outpacing Romney by 50 percent to 43 percent. That’s a more substantial gap than most recent surveys have registered, but Obama has held at least a small lead in earlier polling by Pew. The independent polling operation said there had been “no clear trend in either candidate’s support” since Romney secured the GOP nomination in early spring.

When it comes to fixing the economy—the top issue of the campaign--“Romney has not seized the advantage,” Pew’s analysis concluded. “In fact, he has lost ground on this issue over the past month.”

Of potentially greater significance than the overall national figures, Obama continues to lead Romney in battleground states. In the 12 states considered most competitive at this point, the president holds a seven percentage-point edge, 51 to 44, the Pew survey found. A Wall Street Journal survey, released late last month, also showed Obama with an eight-point advantage in battleground states.