The results of a U.S. national poll released on Sept. 1 show that Republican presidential candidate and Texas governor Rick Perry is ahead of President Obama. It is now more than a year away from the election, and the polls are in favor of Perry. Such a situation makes Obama’s re-election not optimistic.
According to the poll published by Rasmussen, Perry’s support rate is 44 percent, and Obama’s is 41 percent. Just a week before, the same poll showed that Perry’s support rate was 3 percentage points less than Obama’s. This indicates that Obama’s support from citizens recently is decreasing rapidly.
This poll, conducted in late August, shows that Obama still has an advantage in support among young voters under 30, while Perry wins more support from middle-aged voters and from male voters.
In a poll of other Republican candidates versus Obama held by the same organization, Obama still has the advantage. Mitt Romney is 3 percentage points behind Obama; Michele Bachmann is 11 percentage points behind Obama. It seems that Perry has become the major competitor against Obama in the Republican Party.
The research points out that in consideration of the poll’s standard deviation factors, Perry and Obama are essentially evenly matched so far. However, this has already indicated that Perry is one of Obama’s strongest competitors. A poll website even posted a banner that reads “President Perry?”
In many polls held before, Perry’s support rate among Republicans was far ahead of others. In the poll result released by Quinnipiac University on Aug. 31, Perry was 6 percentage points ahead of Romney.
The mountain fire in Texas was still raging on Sept. 1; about 10 houses were burned and firefighters were trying hard to put out the fire. However, this disaster doesn’t seem to be affecting Perry’s campaign.
The Republicans’ nominee seems to be clear now, but related election procedures and activities are still ongoing. In accordance with the arrangements, the Republican Party is holding a new round of candidate debates on Sept. 7, in which Perry will appear for the first time; Romney, Bachmann and Jon Huntsman will also attend.
What is dramatic is that Obama was going to make a speech to both the House and Senate on the evening of Sept. 7, discussing the issue of expanding employment. However, House Speaker John Boehner expressed objection that the time was inappropriate. Obama then decided that he would make the speech the following day, the evening of Sept. 8.
This game played by the two parties regarding the time of Obama’s speech drew enormous attention from the U.S. media. Almost every major newspaper published the news on the front page. This reveals that facing the approach of 2012 Election Day, the bipartisan political struggle is becoming ever more subtle.
Two of the presidential candidates, Bachmann and Ron Paul, attacked Obama, accusing him of arranging the speech time on purpose. Bachmann and Paul are both members of the House; according to Obama’s original plan, they would have to make a choice between listening to the speech and attending the debate.
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