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Election 2012: Generic Republican 47%, Obama 41%

A generic Republican still holds a six-point advantage over President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 match-up for the week ending Sunday, October 9.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds the generic Republican earning 47% support, while the president picks up 41% of the vote.  Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) 

These matchup results are identical to those found last week.  Since weekly tracking began in early May, the Republican has earned 43% to 49% support, while the president has picked up 40% to 45% of the vote.

Rasmussen Reports will provide new data on this generic matchup each week until the field of prospective Republican nominees narrows to a few serious contenders.

President Obama remains in a virtual tie with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.  Georgia businessman Herman Cain who appears to be surging in the GOP race has pulled within three points of Obama - 42% to 39%.
 

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The survey of 3,500 Likely Voters was conducted October 3-October 9, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2 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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Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

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