Poll: Obama better for Americans' wallets
A similar survey conducted in July showed the 2 major candidates tied.
Americans increasingly believe they will be better off financially if President Barack Obama is re-elected, according to a poll released Monday by Bankrate.com (RATE). The results are a bit of good news for the incumbent, who is trying to regain lost momentum since his recent lackluster debate performance.
The poll of more than 1,000 adults, conducted by Princeton Data Source, shows 29% of respondents believe Obama is better for them financially, compared with 20% who believe Republican challenger Mitt Romney would benefit them more.
A similar poll conducted in July showed the two candidates in a tie at 21%. The margin of error is 3.7 percentage points. Not surprisingly, 62% of Americans say their personal financial situation is an important factor in their vote.
"I was a little bit surprised to see the change that happened since we did the last survey," Claes Bell, a senior banking analyst with Bankrate.com, said, adding that the survey also found that voters who feel they are worse off financially are more likely to support Romney.
Both Obama and Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, are tied in many polls. The economy is at best a mixed bag for Obama. While unemployment recently fell below 8%, it is still high. The real-estate market is showing signs of improvement, albeit at a snail's pace. Many investors and business executives are worried about the fiscal cliff, though the Republicans deserve some of the blame for the looming draconian cuts to government spending as well.
Both candidates claim to be champions of the middle class, tough they both have vastly differing approaches to the economy. The Bush tax cuts are a case in point. Obama advocates extending them for a year for households earning less than $250,000 a year. Romney favors making the reductions, passed in 2001 and 2003, permanent. Some leaders, such as New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, say both approaches are wrong and say the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to lapse because the U.S. cannot afford to keep them. They are scheduled to expire in 2013.
As the election draws closer, Obama will need to prove to voters that he has done the best he could with the cards he was dealt and if Americans stay the course better economic times lie ahead. That is a tough sell even in the best of times.
"The agenda and the election are being driven a lot by that personal economic fear," Matthew Singer, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, told Bankrate.
Follow Jonathan Berr on Twitter@jdberr.
The statement that "Republicans deserve some of the blame for the looming draconian cuts to government spending" is true, but it makes them look like they are the only bad guys in the group. Overspending by government is the reason for the looming cuts. The above statement would be the same as saying my boss is a bad guy because he has to make cuts to keep the company afloat. We, as Americans, one whole group, are broke. Wake up and smell the coffee.
I am really tired of 'facts' being spewed and then slanted with opinions. The fact is we are heavily in debt. The fact is that we ALL had a part in it. The fact is we need to pay our debts and cuts are coming. Economics is not rocket science, and polls on opinions don't prove a mathematical calculation.
In the process of receiving my bachelors and masters degrees (which I paid for myself, without student loans) I took four courses in statistics and several other courses that had a lot of stats in them. One of my professors was a professional statistician for the State of California. He said one statement about stats that was very telling. "You can tell a lot more about the results of a study by looking at who funded it than by looking at the numbers in the study."
THANK YOU PRESIDENT OBAMA AND SANDRA FLUKE!!!!!
I just got my Insurance contract for 2013 and my COPAY for GENERIC drugs is double , from $5 to $10 of what it used to be so we can give FREE CONTRACEPTION to SANDRA and all her other IVY LEAGUE OVERAGED STUDENT'S.
Why can't you go to Planned Parenthood ot Walmart like everyother woman had for the past 4 decades?
WHO DO YOU THINK PAYS FOR YOUR FREE STUFF?
The current economic direction is to kick the can down the road.
It's like taking a payday loan and thinking you are better off because you suddenly have more money.
This country needs wealth creation, NOT enabling re-distribution. Ask yourself, are any of the present stimulus measures actually sustainable ? Will they create enough wealth to pay for themselves ? If no, then it just make things worse in the long run. Wake up, stop looking for a free lunch. It is a trick
"Obama better for Americans' wallets" What a joke of a statement. All he want's to do is socialize my country, tax, tax, tax. I voted for him & I really wanted to give him a chance, but his presidency has been a joke.
I'll take Jimmy Carter any day. His performance at the debate was pitiful & it finally showed me that this guy is a Dud.
Must Be kinda Stupid Writers or Editor -- Missing Basic Economics..
Or your a fired Liberal Socialist on the Obama-Nation payroll.
What happened to Obama’s OPEN AND TRANSPARENT – it’s now Hidden and Faked..
Like HOPE AND CHANGE turned to Bait and Switch and now its Dirty Politics as USUAL…
The US Citizens should be HOPING for a CHANGE in 2012, Obama has done NOTHING in 4 years…
for the Average US Taxpayer except screw US all with Obama-Care which is really a TAX.
Fuel is UP from $ 1.62 in 2008 to yesterday at $ 3.91
, Taxes are UP, Hidden Taxes are UP, Inflation is 11% since 2008,
Oil & Electric up 241% with no investigation,
NEW TAX called ObamaCare (Taxation without Representation – that was bait & switch)
Poverty Line from 2008 at $ 21,200 to $ 23,744 in 2012,
Average income down from $ 51,200 in 2008 to 43,500 in 2012….
Exactly WHAT has Obama done for Me????
Lowered me from Middle Class via something called “Trickle UP Poverty….
HERE IS Number 2:
Why would Obama spend 4-million of campaign money hiding and suppressing
records for Schools, Grants Jobs and Harvard Law..????
Because he has MUCH TO HIDE more than Romney..
Obama has really average grades in Columbia and only got into Harvard on
Affirmative Action Programs and someone pulling strings for him – HE OWES SOMEONE.!!!...
Also, at the time Obama got Harvard Law Review because he was on the review, could
not write and was Black. The University needed an Example and Figurehead..
Obama wrote NOTHING of Value…. Just Like in the Executive Office Nothing in 4 years..
Obama has NEVER had a real job other than an Community Organizer – all you do is talk…
Guess he is qualified for that – in 4 years all has been Vacations, Golf, and Talk Crap.
I am better off now than 4 years ago. I was better 4 years ago than I was 8 years ago. So, the president shouldn't determine my standing and success.
The thing that gets me a bit worried is the inflation we will experience as the government programs have expanded in the last decade. You can't print money to get out of this, Washington. We will dearly pay for these, particularly those dependent on the government for their check.
Sydswife: "My husband and I have always gotten at tax refund of close to $3500 a year - which is something we count on for home improvements, vacation, etc. Imagine our disappointment two years ago when we not only didn't get a refund but we owed for the first time ever. Our income hadn't changed and our deductions were the same. This year was a repeat. Then our health insurance increased by $300 a month. And it costs twice as much to fill my car as it did four years ago. This question is a no-brainer."
Don't know the particulars for your tax liability, but if you had a mortgage and you paid some of the principle off, you would have paid less interest and would have had less write-offs. If you owned real estate, your property taxes should have gone up or down depending on if your property went up or down in value and was reassessed and won't be the same. Your health insurance going up is more likely due to the insurance company getting as much of a raise as possible before the AHC goes into effect to try to sqeeze in profits. Inflation will happen whoever is in office. That's why a 5 cent candy bar is now a dollar and gas used to be 45 cents a gallon. It only goes higher with time.
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