The Momentum for Romney is building...It's a state by state job with emphasis on the Swing States....

North Carolina: Romney 51%, Obama 43%


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Mitt Romney has moved out to an eight-point lead over President Obama in North Carolina after the two men were virtually tied a month ago.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the Tar Heel State shows the putative Republican nominee earning 51% of the vote to Obama’s 43%. Two percent (2%) like some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

That’s a big change from last month when Romney posted a narrow 46% to 44% lead over the president in Rasmussen Reports’ first survey of the race in North Carolina. Democrats have signaled North Carolina’s importance as a key swing state by deciding to hold their national convention in Charlotte this summer.

Romney has held a slight lead over the president nationally for over a week now in the daily Presidential Tracking Poll following the release of a disappointing jobs report for April.

Voters nationally regard the economy as far and away the most important issue in the upcoming election, and just 11% of North Carolina voters now describe the U.S. economy as good or excellent. Forty-seven percent (47%) rate it as poor. Thirty-one percent (31%) say the economy is getting better, but 41% think it is getting worse.

The president leads overwhelmingly among those who give the economy positive marks, while Romney is far ahead among the much larger group that views the economy as poor.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of North Carolina Republicans now support Romney, compared to 76% of Democrats in the state who back Obama. Nearly one-in-five North Carolina Democrats (18%) now favor the Republican. The GOP challenger holds a modest 49% to 45% lead among voters not affiliated with either party, but the two men were tied with 38% support each among this group a month ago.

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The survey of 500 Likely Voters in North Carolina was conducted on May 14, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Last week, 61% of North Carolina voters last week approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between only a man and a woman. The next night, Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly endorse gay marriage. At the same time, North Carolina’s Democratic Party is embroiled in a divisive leadership spat.

Obama edged Republican John McCain 50% to 49% in the 2008 election to become the first Democrat to carry North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Now 46% approve of the job Obama is doing as president, while 54% disapprove. The latter finding is up four points from a month ago. The new numbers include 28% who Strongly Approve of the president’s job performance and 45% who Strongly Disapprove.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters in the state share a favorable opinion of Romney, including 23% who regard him Very Favorably. The former Massachusetts governor is seen unfavorably by 43%, with 23% who hold a Very Unfavorable view of him. This marks an increase of several points in both his Very Favorables and Very Unfavorables from last month.

Just 22% of Tar Heel voters think the federal government has the constitutional authority to force everyone in the country to buy or obtain health insurance, a central element of the president’s national health care plan. Forty-three percent (43%) at least somewhat favor a law that includes such a mandate, while 53% are at least somewhat opposed. This includes 19% who Strongly Favor the law and 38% who Strongly Oppose it.

Obama earns 75% support from those who Strongly Favor such a law. Ninety percent (90%) of those who Strongly Oppose it prefer Romney.

Fifty-two percent (52%) of all North Carolina voters would like to see the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the national health care law, while 35% would rather see the high court uphold the legality of the measure. Forty-eight percent (48%) believe the court will overturn the law, but 32% think it will be upheld. Those numbers are similar to the national average.

In combined polling of the key swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, Obama holds a slight edge over Romney. The president also leads Romney in Nevada, Ohio, Wisconsin, California and New Mexico. He is nearly tied with his GOP challenger in Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania but trails him in Missouri, Montana, Arizona and Nebraska.