If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

POLITICS

Obama 43% Perry 40%

President Obama continues to lead all named Republicans in early polling on the 2012 race for the White House, but the numbers suggest a competitive race may be possible.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows the President earning 43% of the vote if Texas Governor Rick Perry is the GOP nominee. Perry attracts support from 40%. Ten percent (10%) say they’d prefer some other candidate while seven percent (7%) are not sure.

If Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is the GOP candidate, the president leads 43% to 39%. In that match-up, 12% would prefer some other candidate and seven percent (7%) are not sure.

With former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as his opponent, the president leads 46% to 38%. In an Obama-Romney contest, eight percent (8%) would look for a third party option while nine percent (9%) are not sure. (To see 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 match-up surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters were conducted August 17-22, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error for the surveys is +/- 3% 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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We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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