Barack Obama moved to an advantage against Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney among all Americans in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, but the match-up tightens among registered voters – underscoring the importance of turnout in the still far-off 2012 election. ...

GENERAL – In a general-election matchup, Obama-Romney stand at 51-44 percent among all adults, compared with 47-47 percent in early June. Among registered voters, it’s 49-47 percent now, vs. 46-49 percent in June.

Obama looks to have turned the budget debate to his advantage; as reported in previously released results from this poll, his position on the deficit is more broadly popular, he’s taking less heat than the GOP for unwillingness to compromise and he’s got a sizable lead in the view that he cares more about protecting the middle class.

In Obama vs. Romney, the main change is among independents, the key swing voters in national elections. They divided by 44-48 percent Obama-Romney in June, vs. 52-42 percent now. Obama also is doing better now than a month ago among white Catholics (another swing voter group), women, moderates and middle- to upper-middle income earners. Notably, Romney’s lead among “angry” Americans has narrowed considerably – a 53-point margin vs. Obama last month, a 32-point margin now.

Other potential GOP nominees tested in this survey are at or near the customary baseline vote for either party’s candidate, 40 percent. It’s 53-41 percent for Obama vs. Paul, 55-38 percent vs. Perry and 56-39 percent vs. Bachmann. (The results are similar among registered voters – 52-43, 53-40, 55-40.)

According to the poll, the president's 45 percent approval rating is down three points from June. Fifty-four percent of people questioned disapprove of how Obama's handling his duties, up six points from last month. His 54 percent disapproval rating ties the all-time high in CNN polling that the president initially reached just before last year's midterm elections.

"But drill down into that number and you'll see signs of a stirring discontent on the left," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Thirty-eight percent say they disapprove because President Obama has been too liberal, but 13 percent say they disapprove of Obama because he has not been liberal enough - nearly double what it was in May, when the question was last asked, and the first time that number has hit double digits in Obama's presidency."

Looking at that figure another way, roughly one in four Americans who disapprove of the president say they feel that way because he's not been liberal enough.

Obama's approval rating among liberals has dropped to 71 percent, the lowest point in his presidency. And the number of Democrats who want the party to renominate Obama next year, now at 77 percent, is relatively robust by historical standards but is also down a bit since June.

Question 43
Do you think the Democratic party should renominate Barack Obama as the party's candidate for president in 2012, or do you think the Democratic party should nominate a different candidate for president in 2012?

Base = Democrats

Renominate Obama
Total 77%
Democrat 81%
Independent 69%
Liberal 84%
Moderate 76%

How can anyone expect him to be liberal in this political climate? He'd make more headway cross-dressing. Tea baggering freshmen are crazy, even Boner can't keep them in line.

Not so long ago the sentence "Elections have consequences" was widely criticezed in these pages....

CNN Poll: President's approval nearing 50%

According to the survey, 49% of Americans approve of the job Obama's doing in the White House, up five points from last month, with 48% saying they disapprove, down six points from mid-November. The 49% approval rating is the president's highest since May, when his number hit 54% thanks to a bounce following the killing of Osama bin Laden. Since then, in CNN polling, Obama's approval rating has hovered in the mid-40s.

"President Barack Obama's approval rating appears to be fueled by dramatic gains among middle-income Americans," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "The data suggest that the debate over the payroll tax is helping Obama's efforts to portray himself as the defender of the middle class."

Obama's gains have come at the expense of the Republicans in Congress and the GOP in general. By a 50% to 31% margin, people questioned say they have more confidence in the president than in congressional Republicans to handle the major issues facing the country. Obama held a much narrower 44% to 39% margin in March.

And the GOP's overall favorable rating has dropped to six points, to 43%, since June, while the Democrats' positive rating remained steady at 55%.

"The Democrats do particularly well among middle income Americans, while the Republicans win support only from the top end of the income scale," adds Holland.