America unsettled on Obama challenger

U.S. president suffers from faltering support, but opposing Republicans present feeble challenge


WASHINGTON (AP) ― Half of all Americans believe President Barack Obama does not deserve to be re-elected, but none of the Republicans vying to challenge him in 2012 has been able to beat him in a hypothetical head-to-head match up, according to a new AP-GfK poll released Wednesday.

Among Republicans, the desire to oust Obama may be nearly unanimous, but that doesn’t mean they’ve warmed to any of the candidates their party has to offer.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumed front-runner, is reasonably popular, with about 30 percent of the intention to vote.

But he has yet to pull away from the field with voters plagued by doubts over his conservative credentials, links to Wall Street and the health care law he implemented in Massachusetts that was the model for Democratic federal law, widely loathed by Republicans.

Romney is also a Mormon, which has caused some concern among evangelical Christians who make up a large portion of the Republican electorate.

Former pizza company executive Herman Cain has 26 percent of Republicans saying he’s the candidate they’d would most like to see on the ballot, but many are reluctant to back a man who has never held office.

Of the Republicans polled, about four in 10 say they’re less inclined to vote for someone who has never been elected to public office. That’s far more than say they are disinclined to vote for a Mormon, a woman or a black candidate ― another hurdle faced by Cain, who is African-American.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry enjoyed a bump in the polls after his late entry into the race, but now lags in the poll with only 13 percent.

All this is subject to change since the poll was conducted before Tuesday night’s combative debate in Las Vegas where Cain took a serious beating from rivals over his tax proposals, and a newly energized Perry hit Romney hard on immigration.

Ronald Wilson, a conservative Republican, said he’s undecided, although he favors Cain over his lack of links to Washington and politics-as-usual.

Wilson, 65, a retired stone quarry worker, called Romney “better than nothing.”

Such comments underscore Romney’s challenge. Many Republican insiders see him as the most plausible nominee and Obama’s strongest potential challenger. But Romney generates little passion among Republican’s conservative base, who seem to keep shopping for an alternative as time ticks down to the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

Among all adults surveyed, half said Obama should not be re-elected, and 46 percent said he should be. That continues his gradual slide since May.

When all adults are asked about hypothetical head-to-head matchups, Obama and Romney run almost even, 48 percent for Obama to 45 percent. Obama holds a narrow edge over Cain, 49 percent to 43 percent. He leads Perry, 51 percent to 42 percent.

The poll found shifts in candidates’ favorability ratings. These numbers don’t necessarily track people’s likelihood to vote for or against someone, but they offer insight into how candidates are being received as they become better known.

Romney, Cain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have gotten positive bumps since August. Romney and Cain are the only Republican contenders viewed favorably by more than 40 percent of all adults.

Romney’s favorable rating has risen 10 points among all adults since August, and now stands at 49 percent. Increases came across party lines, but especially among conservative Republicans.

Cain’s favorability rating among Republicans has nearly doubled as he has spent more time in the spotlight, increasing from 37 percent favorable in August to 71 percent favorable now. Just 10 percent of Republicans hold a negative impression of him. Party insiders will watch for signs that Tuesday’s hard-hitting debate might wound Cain a bit.

Obama’s favorability ratings are essentially unchanged since August, with 54 percent of adults holding a favorable view of him, and 44 percent unfavorable.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted Oct. 13-17, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll included interviews with 431 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents; the margin of error for these results was plus or minus 6.1 percentage points.