President Obama continues to soar in national polls, with new data on Wednesday saying that he has opened up an 8-point gap ahead of Republican rival Mitt Romney.
Obama holds a 51% to 43% lead over Romney among likely voters, as the Nov. 6 general election is now under 50 days away … the home stretch in election 2012.
According to the Pew polling data, Obama also holds a bigger September lead than the last three candidates who went on to win in November, including himself four years ago. Ruh-roh, Romney.
In every elections since 1988, only Bill Clinton, in 1992 and 1996, entered the fall with a larger advantage.
That’s a big ouch for the GOP.
Pew's survey of 2,424 registered voters was completed before this week's Romney flap "47%" video scandal. Voters were about evenly divided on which candidate they prefer on issues of jobs and the deficit.
But, as NPR further outlines, Obama leads Romney on most key issues, including health care, Medicare, and abortion.
A key demographic Obama is succeeding with is the millennial generation, or those people aged 30 and younger.
Voters younger than 30 continue to support Obama by a wide margin (59% to 33%). Young people have been a critical demographic for Obama. In 2008, 66% of those under age 30 voted for Obama, making the disparity between young voters and other age groups larger than in any presidential election since exit polling began in 1972, according to Pew.
The news comes as the Obama campaign has announced a new initiative targeting millennials. Nick-named “For All,” the initiative is designed to engage young Americans and illustrates the shared values of Obama and young Americans across the country — values including community-building, building up the middle class, and social equality.
The “For All” Obama campaign initiative asks supporters to post a photo on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that highlights why we are greater together regardless of race, background, sexual orientation or zip code. Images appear online at barackobama.com/photos-from-the-field/forall.
The Obama campaign contends that the youth vote is crucial to getting the president re-elected. A press release for the “For All” initiative outlines: “The collective voices of young people drive this campaign through student to student, peer to peer and neighbor to neighbor outreach, organization and communication about the issues they care about. From expanding access to affordable, quality health care, to ensuring more students can attend college, to standing up for our country’s servicemen and women, to advancing equal rights, President Obama has proven time and again that he is committed to issues important to young Americans.”
The Obama camp is looking to engage demographic that has become cold when it comes to political interest in the last few years. As Pew reports, just 48% of voters younger than 30 have given a lot of thought to the 2012 election, down from 65% at this point four years ago. The share of young people who say they are closely following election news is down by about half (from 35% to 18%).
