WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama holds a comfortable lead over all 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls, according to a new poll taken days after the killing of Osama bin Laden.
The president holds double-digit advantages over each of his potential 2012 challengers, a Reuters-Ipsos survey found Wednesday. Former governors Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts came closest.
Although Obama received a three-point approval bump after bin Laden's death, his robust lead reflects the weakness of a presidential field that should be substantially benefiting from stubbornly high unemployment and surging gas prices.
Forty-five percent of respondents said they believe Obama will win reelection, a 10 point increase since last November. But only 34 percent approved of his performance on economic issues -- the strongest scientific indicator of presidential reelection prospects.
An Associated Press-GfK poll found Wednesday that 60 percent of Americans had a favorable view of Obama's performance, including 52 percent who approved of his handling of the economy.
The Reuters-Ipsos poll surveyed 1,029 randomly selected adults by telephone between May 5-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
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