Romney's negatives hit new high, poll finds

The Hill/Ballot Box ^ | 03/28/12 at 06:42 AM ET | Meghashyam Mali

[Josh Painter]

A new poll shows Mitt Romney, who is locked in a prolonged GOP nomination fight, with lagging approval ratings, raising questions about his strength in a likely November match-up with President Obama.

Half of those surveyed hold unfavorable views of the GOP front-runner, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll released Wednesday finds.

In the poll, 50 percent of all surveyed and 52 percent of registered voters held unfavorable opinions of Romney. Thirty-four percent hold positive views on Romney, the lowest for any leading presidential contender in Post/ABC polls dating back to 1984.

The poll also finds that Romney’s unfavorability tops Obama’s highest unfavorability rating in the poll's history.

Adding to Romney's challenge in a potential general-election fight, by comparison, Obama holds a 53 percent favorability rating and a 43 percent unfavorable mark, according to the survey.

Obama is also up with independents, 50 percent of whom hold favorable views to 46 percent unfavorable.

But Romney lags among that key group, with 35 percent of independents viewing him favorably to 52 percent unfavorable.

Among voters who identify themselves as moderates, Obama holds a 61 percent to 34 percent positive edge, while Romney is seen unfavorably by more. Forty-eight percent of centrists have a negative view of Romney, to 35 percent favorable.

The poll also shows Obama rallying his base better than Romney...

[SaraJohnson]

As if Romneycare was not bad enough, now the leftist idiot is going for the UN’s lobal warming agenda.

The GOP better pull back. They have picked another guarenteed loser and permitting Obama to be re-elected is treason.

[Marcella]

Many of us knew he couldn’t win against Hussein. That is just the way it is.