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Q Poll: Obama’s approval ratings crash

Posted Aug 4, 2011 by William March

Updated Aug 4, 2011 at 09:12 AM

President Barack Obama’s approval rating in Florida has crashed despite approval of the debt ceiling deal, and Mitt Romney now runs even with him among state voters, a new poll of Florida voters finds.
The poll also showed Texas Gov. Rick Perry moving into second place in the GOP primary to pick an opponent for Obama, even though Perry hasn’t yet decided to run.
But it showed Sen. Bill Nelson holding his lead in the Senate race. While GOP voters are still undecided on a candidate to challenge Nelson, dark horse candidate Mike McCalister led among those who had made up their minds with 15 percent.
The numbers from the Quinnipiac University poll:
—Obama’s job performance was aproved by 44 percent of the respondents, and 51 percent said they disapproved. The numbers were virtually unchanged among voters surveyed just before and just after approval of the the debt ceiling deal, but they were reversed from a Quinnipiac poll in May, when it was 51 percent approval and 43 percent disapproval.
—Obama and Romney tied at 44 percent each in an election matchup. Obama led all other potential GOP challengers by double digits except Perry, whom he beat 44-39 percent.
—Romney led with 23 percent in the GOP presidential primary, followed by Perry at 13 percent, Sarah Palin and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 9 percent , Herman Cain 8 percent, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 6 percent, Newt Gingrich 4 percent, Tim Pawlenty 3 percent amd Jon Huntsman 1 percent.
—In the U.S. Senate primary, McCalister led with 15 percent followed by Geroge LeMieux with 12 percent, Craig Miller with 8 percent and Adam Hasner with 6 percent, while 53 percent gave “don’t know” answers and another 7 percent said they’d choose someone else or wouldn’t vote.