Republicans hold a four-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, May 20. 

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 43% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 39% would choose the Democrat instead. This gap is down from last week when Republicans led by seven but is consistent with the level of support the GOP has been earning since early March.

The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from May 14-20, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage point with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Unlike four years ago, Barack Obama now has a record to run on – and run against. The economy, the health care law, bailouts, stimulus spending, the changes from the so-called Arab Spring and much more will be hot topics of discussion in the months ahead.

Right now, Republican challenger Mitt Romney and the president are closely matched in the daily Presidential Tracking Poll, but improving economic perceptions would cheer the Obama camp. “Forget same-sex marriage and the host of other buzz issues,” Scott Rasmussen argues in his latest syndicated column.   “If the economy improves, Obama will be reelected. If it gets worse, he will lose.”

Democrats regard North Carolina as so important to the president’s reelection that they are holding their national convention there this summer. However, Romney has moved out to an eight-point lead over Obama in the Tar Heel State.  More predictably, Romney still posts a double-digit lead over the president in GOP-friendly Nebraska.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of Likely U.S. Voters now say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, May 12.

This week’s finding is down three points from the previous two weeks.

The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports May 7-12, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Republicans hold a seven-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, May 12. 

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 38% would choose the Democrat instead. This gap is much larger than it has been for the past three weeks when Republicans led by three but is consistent with the level of support the GOP has been earning since early March.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from May 7-12, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage point with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The majority of voters continue to support repeal of President Obama’s national health care law, and belief that repeal would be good for the economy has edged up to its highest level since late 2010.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% of Likely U.S. Voters at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law, while 37% are at least somewhat opposed. This includes 46% who Strongly Favor repeal of the measure versus 26% who Strongly Oppose it. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on May 12, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

President Obama ended the week with media praise loud in his ears over his endorsement of gay marriage, while his Republican challenger Mitt Romney crossed the 50% threshold against the president for the first time in Rasmussen Reports’ daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

It’s a long way to Election Day, but Romney’s lead was a reminder that this contest is still all about the economy. Just 37% of Likely Voters nationwide give the president good or excellent marks for his handling of economic issues, down from a two-year high of 42% in March. Forty-eight percent (48%) say he’s doing a poor job in this area.

Rasmussen Reports is now tracking the four named Republicans remaining in the race in regular matchups with the President Obama.  Rasmussen Reports will match up Obama with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.

The tables on this page will be updated each day by 9:30am and will contain the entire history of these matchups.

For the second week in a row, 31% of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken the week ending Sunday, May 6.

That's unchanged since last week, which was the highest finding since mid-March.

The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports April 30-May 6, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Fieldwork for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Republicans hold a three-point lead on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the third week in a row, this time for the week ending Sunday, May 6. 

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 44% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 41% would choose the Democrat instead. This is nearly identical to last week’s findings and those the week before.

The national telephone survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from April 30-May 6, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage point with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

President Obama officially launches his reelection campaign today with appearances in  Ohio and Virginia, states critical to his reelection, and recent polling shows both are in play. But overall, it’s been another so-so week for the president, with his well-received plan for winding down the war in Afghanistan offset by another anemic jobs report.

The president continues to holds a slight lead over likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney in combined polling of the key swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia. During 2008, Obama picked up 52% of the vote in these states to Republican nominee John McCain's 48%. The so-called Core Four states have 75 Electoral College votes, and if the president wins even two of these states, it will be just about impossible for the GOP candidate to win the White House.

But as Scott Rasmussen explains in a Rasmussen Report radio update, Romney needs to win all of the Core Four states. Scott is now doing three Rasmussen Report radio updates every weekday, syndicated nationally by the WOR Radio Network.