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Politics

44 Percent Say They Will Definitely Not Vote For Obama in 2012, 29 Percent Say They Definitely Will

Emily Ekins | 12.21.2011 2:12 PM

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Up a few percentage points from the August 2011 Reason-Rupe poll, President Barack Obama's approval rating is now 49 percent, with 47 percent of Americans disapproving of his job performance. A little more than half of those who approve of Obama's job performance say they will definitely vote for him in the 2012 general election, but a third were not ready to commit their votes, saying instead they would consider voting for him.

Among Americans who disapprove of Obama's job performance, 84 percent say they will definitely not vote for him and 11 percent will consider voting for him. Taken together, about a third of Americans plan to definitely vote for Obama in 2012, a quarter say they will consider voting for him, and a little less than half will definitely not vote for him. Obama's chances of winning will largely depend on the share of votes he can capture among those who are considering voting for him. Clearly, getting his job approval ratings up will help in this endeavor.

As you may know, the 2012 presidential election is less than a year away and President Barack Obama is running for re-election. Would you say you will definitely vote for him, you will consider voting for him, or you definitely will not vote for him? 

 

How would you rate the job performance of President Barack Obama? Would you say you approve or disapprove of his performance? 

Find full Reason-Rupe Q4 2011 poll results, question wording, and methodology here.

The Reason-Rupe Q4 2011 poll collected a nationally representative sample of 1200 respondents, aged 18 and older from all 50 states and the District of Columbia using live telephone interviews from December 1-13. Interviews were conducted on both landline and mobile phones. The margin of sampling error for this poll is +/- 3 percent.

Follow Emily Ekins on Twitter @emilyekins

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NEXT: A Canada Border Crossing Mini-Drama

Emily Ekins is a research fellow and director of polling at the Cato Institute.

PoliticsBarack ObamaElection 2012Campaigns/Elections
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