Despite voter concerns about the economy and a view that Mitt Romney is a better Mr. Fix-It than Barack Obama, the president leads the Republican in the key battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to new Rasmussen Reports polling.
In Ohio, Obama leads Romney 47 percent to 45 percent. In Pennsylvania, the president has a wider lead, 48 percent to 44 percent. And Rasmussen [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/] this week also gave Obama the lead in Virginia, 47 percent to 46 percent.
The new polling is likely to bolster the chances that Romney will pick Ohio Sen. Rob Portman as his running mate. Election analysts believe that Portman could add 1.5 percent to 2 percent to Romney’s overall polling in the must-win state, enough to put the Ohio in the Republican’s category.
In his most recent poll of Pennsylvania, Romney could be slightly closer though because Rasmussen included more Democrats in his poll, just out Friday afternoon. They had a 43 percent to 38 percent advantage, slightly higher than the national average. Obama's 47 percent is his highest to date in Rasmussen's Pennsylvania polling. Obama beat Sen. John McCain in Pennsylvania 55 percent to 44 percent in 2008.
What’s more, a whopping 90 percent of Pennsylvania voters rate the economy poor to fair, with 53 percent grading it poor. Asked how the economy would fare under the candidates, 33 percent said it would get better under Romney, 34 percent worse. Under Obama, 30 percent said it would get better, 41 percent said it would get worse.
Democrats are worried that if Romney succeeds in convincing voters that he is the better economic repair man, the election will be his, explaining why Team Obama is trying to discredit Romney’s leadership at Bain Capital.
