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7/19/12

US Presidential Elections: Obama Approval Rating Dragged Down By Economy, New Poll Shows

The presidential race is a dead heat, according to the newly released CBS/NYT poll. And for all the attention being paid to the attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital and, more subtly, his wealth, the economy still appears to be the overriding factor.   President Barack Obama trails Mitt Romney, 47 percent to 46 percent.

After weeks of bad news for the presumptive Republican nominee, the poll result would seem to be unexpectedly tight. And the most logical explanation for why Obama has failed to open up a national lead seems to rest on the economic polling data.

Romney leads Obama among respondents by a margin of 49 percent to 41 percent on who can best handle the economy and jobs. People who think the economy is getting better dropped from 33 percent in April to 24 percent now -- owed largely to a series of bad jobs reports.

Obama is perceived as the candidate who can best help the middle class, with 52 percent citing the president on that question, including 15 percent of Republicans. But even then, he gets a heaping of blame for not turning the economy around. Almost two-thirds of respondents said the president's policies contributed to the economic downturn. Only 17 percent of respondents said the president's policies on the economy were "improving it now."

Read more: Obama Approval Rating Dragged Down By Economy, New Poll Shows

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