Polling Goodness

I usually include this in the Open Thread, but I ran out of time. Yes, the Open Thread has to be posted by 12 or else I get electric shocks every five seconds.

Obama leads Romney by a pretty substantial margin in Ohio, 49% to 42%, according to a new Public Policy Poll out today. What is most impressive about this poll is not Obama’s lead, but it is the fact that only 28% of Ohioans have a favorable opinion of Mitt Romney, and 56% have a negative, unfavorable opinion of him. That is unelectable. Those are toxic numbers. Or at least, when Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich had those numbers, we called them toxic.

Nationally, PPP says that Obama defeats Romney 46 to 42, and Obama defeats Gingrich 49 to 40. Shockingly, Rasmussen gives Obama a bigger lead: Obama wins 47-42 over Romney, and 50-37 over Gingrich.

In the Republican Primary:

NATIONAL (Gallup Tracking): Gingrich 28, Romney 27, Santorum 17, Paul 13
MISSOURI CAUCUS (PPP): Gingrich 30, Santorum 28, Romney 24, Paul 11
MISSOURI PRIMARY (PPP): Santorum 45, Romney 34, Paul 13
OHIO (PPP): Gingrich 26, Romney 25, Santorum 22, Paul 11

I said earlier that the upcoming primaries look like Romney territory to me. Well, Missouri sure doesn’t look like Romney territory, and Ohio, which is on Super Tuesday on March 5, looks competitive.