Obama looking good in Virginia
PPP has polled Virginia four times in 2011 and has come to the same conclusion every time: Barack Obama just hasn't slipped there to the extent he has nationally. That's a finding with major, major implications for his reelection prospects because if he wins Virginia he's probably going to win the Electoral College...and our polling in the state over the course of the year has certainly suggested he's in a good position to do it.
Right now we find Obama on positive ground in the state with 48% of voters approving of him to 47% who disapprove. He won Virginia by 6 points against John McCain so his net approval of +1 basically suggests a 5 point decline for him from his 2008 standing. To put that in context he won the national popular vote by 7 points and our national poll this week put his approval at a -10 spread (42/52), for a 17 point decline nationally. His numbers are holding up much better in Virginia than most anywhere else.
What sets Obama's numbers apart in Virginia is that it's a rare place where Democrats (89%) are more unified in their approval of him than Republicans (87%) are in their disapproval. A lot of Obama's trouble nationally is being caused by Democrats abandoning ship but in Virginia he has a very strong base behind him.
Obama leads both Mitt Romney (48-42) and Newt Gingrich (50-43) by margins comparable to his 6 point victory over John McCain in 2008. He leads both of them with independents- Romney by 4 and Gingrich by 8. And between the two match ups he's picking up as many Republicans as he's losing Democrats, again something we just aren't seeing in very many places.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/
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