Poll Shows Obama Would Have a Good Chance Against Romney in General Election

As Obama begins to make the case for a second term, a joint poll run by ABC News and the Washington Post has found that the president currently has a solid lead on Mitt Romney in a general election matchup, with 52 percent of Americans saying they would support Obama, over 43 percent for Romney. The poll was conducted by telephone for four days last week, among a random national sample of 1,000 adults.

This comes just after Obama told Matt Lauer in a pre-Superbowl interview that he "deserves a second term," even though the economy isn't doing so well right now. The president admitted to the news anchor that a lot more work needs to be done. "But we've made progress. And the key right now is to make sure we don't start turning in a new direction that could throw that progress off."

Mitt Romney has been arguing throughout his campaign that his previous business experience makes him more suitable to fix America's economic problems. However, many people believe Romney is out of touch with the Average American, particularly after he made a comment in a CNN interview where he stated that he was "not concerned about the very poor."

Obama has always been a polarizing figure -- while there are many Americans who believe he is doing the best with what he's got, he has let down hard-core liberals who believe he isn't going far enough with political reforms. But the numbers are looking up for the president lately, which is good news as he continues to ramp up his campaigning.

The poll also found that Americans view Obama as more capable on the issues of protecting the middle class, handling international politics, and terrorism. Full results of the poll can be seen here.

[keyana.stevens | @keyanastevens]

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