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What They Told Us: Reviewing Last Week’s Key Polls
Saturday, July 28, 2012 

During this past week, Mitt Romney opened his biggest lead in over a month over President Obama. During the same week, consumer confidence fell to the lowest level of 2012.  It’s no coincidence that they happened during the same week. 

Long-term optimism about the U.S. Economy Fell to a new low this month. Just 40% believe the economy will be stronger in FIVE years. That’s down from 46% a year ago, 50% two years ago and 58% three years ago.  Most Americans (56%) believe the Housing market will take more than three years to fully recover. 

As Scott Rasmussen noted in his weekly newspaper column, “Declining Views of the Economy Put Obama’s Reelection at Risk.”  He added that, for Obama to win, “he will need to improve his own job approval rating between now and Election Day. For that to happen, perceptions of the economy will have to reverse their current downward trend.” 

Voters don’t have a lot of confidence in either presidential candidate when it comes to the economy. However, by a 49% to 43% margin, they trust Romney more than Obama. 

The president got himself in trouble a couple of weeks ago with the “you didn’t build that” comment. Americans have very high regard for small business owners. Seventy-two percent (72%) believe they are primarily responsible for their own success; An even larger number believe that they work harder than other Americans. 

Seventy percent (70%) of voters see Obama as politically liberal, while 67% see Romney as a conservative. However, the president is seen as more extreme ideologically. Forty-three percent (43%) see him as Very Liberal, while just 24% believe Romney is Very Conservative. Most voters are either politically Moderate or Somewhat Conservative. Sixty-two percent (62%) place Romney in that group while just 25% say the same for Obama. 

Romney has a 24-point lead among Military Veterans. 

In state polling, new numbers show the president with a three-point lead in Wisconsin.  He also leads by five in Nevada and six in Michigan. All three were won by Obama in 2008 and considered potential swing states this year. The Rasmussen Reports Electoral College Projections show Obama Likely to win states with 201 Electoral College Votes while Romney is Likely to win in states with 170. 

Beyond the election, there was horrific news out of Colorado this week. Two out of three Americans believe the Colorado murderer should get the death penalty. Following the incident, most acknowledged that there is no way public spaces can be fully protected from such acts. So, there was no increase in support for gun control legislation. 

Another sad story has been emerging over the past year from Penn State. The school’s once proud football team and legendary coach have had their reputations tarnished. Most Americans think it was right for the school to take down the statue of Joe Paterno from in front of the football stadium.  Roughly equal numbers thought the penalties imposed by the NCAA were either too severe or not severe enough. 

Read the article with links at Rasmussen