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POLITICS

In Florida, Obama Trails Generic Republican by Six

In the swing state of Florida, President Obama’s job approval rating is below the 50% mark and the economy is the top issue on the minds of voters.

New Rasmussen Reports polling data shows that 47% of Florida’s Likely Voters approve of the way the president is handling his job and 52% disapprove. Those figures include 20% who Strongly Approve and 40% who Strongly Disapprove for an Approval Index rating of -20. As you would expect in a swing state, those figures are similar to the President’s national ratings.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

When matched against a generic Republican in an early look at Election 2012, the president attracts 42% of the vote in Florida while 48% prefer the unnamed Republican. Four percent (4%) would prefer a third party option and seven percent (7%) are not sure.  Again, these figures are close to the national average.  However, it must be noted that the president typically leads named Republicans in early matchup polling. At the same time, most of those who remain undecided in those matchup polls disapprove of the president’s performance.

(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 500 Likely Voters in Florida was derived from nightly presidential tracking poll surveys conducted October 20 -November 7, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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