A new Fox News poll shows that Mitt Romney has overtaken President Obama and that voters believe the president overstepped the mark in criticizing the Supreme Court. The poll also indicates that Romney is closing the gap with women voters.
And Obama’s job approval ratings are at the lowest overall point since December 2010 with more than half of all voters — 51 percent — disapproving of the job he is doing while only 42 percent give him the thumbs up.
It is the first time in more than a month that Romney has polled higher than Obama. So far this year, there have been 45 polls pitting the two men in a head-to-head battle. Obama has come out ahead in 33, Romney in six and six were tied, RealClearPolitics’ data shows.
The Fox poll of voters around the country shows the presumptive Republican candidate has received a major bump after the effective end of GOP challenges to him. The survey was taken between Monday and Wednesday this week. Romney’s closest challenger, Rick Santorum, dropped out of the race for the nomination on Tuesday.
Special:
Should Obama's Health Plan Be Overturned? Vote Here Now!
The result cuts Obama’s lead in the RealClearPolitics poll of polls to 3.4 percentage points.
Fox’s nationwide survey of 910 registered voters reveals that if the election were held today, Romney would win by 46 percent to 44 over Obama. The last similar poll, taken a month ago, gave Obama a 4 percentage point lead.
The poll also shows that although there is a substantial gender gap, with men overwhelmingly supporting Romney by 52 percent to 38, while women go for Obama by 49-41. The gap among females is nowhere near as large as the one shown in a Washington Post-ABC News poll earlier this week that had Obama leading by 19 points with women.
The poll results come on the heels of this week’s “Mommy Wars” uproar, caused when Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said that Romney’s wife Ann had “not worked a day in her life,” despite raising five sons. The Romney camp has since pounced on that and has been trying to win over more women voters.
Voters appeared particularly displeased with the president’s criticism of the Supreme Court while the nine justices are still considering his Affordable Care Act. A total of 56 percent said the president attempted to “intimidate” the court when he called them an “unelected people,” and claimed overturning the law would be an act of “judicial activism.”
It showed the act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare,” remains unpopular, with 53 percent opposing it and only 40 percent in favor.
Special:
Should Obama's Health Plan Be Overturned? Vote Here Now!
When it came to what voters think the court will do with the law and what it should do, the poll’s respondents were split. A plurality, 42 percent, said the court should rule the whole act unconstitutional, but only 28 percent said it will.
A total of 27 percent said it should let the law stand, but just 19 percent said that is what will happen. Less than one-in-four, 24 percent, said the court should throw out the individual mandate and let the law’s other provisions stand, but 38 percent believe that is what will happen.
And 67 percent, two out of every three, believe “politics and partisanship” will play a role in the justices' decision on Obamacare.
Despite that, the Supreme Court fared far better than the other two branches of government when voters were asked which is most trustworthy. The court garnered 43 percent of support from those polled, Obama got 27 percent and Congress received just 15 percent.
When it comes to the individual qualities of Romney and Obama, voters believe each man has his advantages. Romney won by a large majority — 46 percent to 39 — when they were asked which has the best experience to fix the economy, however Obama won easily — 42 percent to 33 — when the question was ‘Who is smarter?’
Obama also won on questions of which man is more trustworthy, more optimistic, and which is more likely to tell the truth.
Again the gender gap was clear in answers to these questions. In every case except one, women favored Obama, while men preferred Romney. The only disparity was that men thought Obama is smarter than Romney by a narrow figure of 39-38.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.