Ohio voters split on Obama second term

Voters in Ohio are split on whether President Obama deserves a second term in 2012, according to a new poll. 

New numbers from Quinnipiac University out Thursday found that 45 percent of Ohio voters think the president deserves reelection in 2012, while 46 percent say he doesn’t. 

Obama’s approval rating now stands at 47 percent in the state — down slightly from the 49 percent approval Quinnipiac measured in late January. 

And while Obama’s lead is small, he still bests a generic Republican challenger in the state, by 41 percent to 34 percent. 

A Pew Research poll released Wednesday showed Obama running well against a generic Republican opponent, 47 percent to 35 percent. In that poll, a similar percentage of registered voters — 47 percent — said they’d like to see Obama reelected in 2012.  

Obama won Ohio in 2008 as he cruised to election. Obama could lose Ohio in 2012 and still win reelection, but it would make his path to the presidency much more difficult. 

Ohio has voted for the winning candidate in the presidential election in every election since 1960, when it supported Republican Richard Nixon instead of President John Kennedy. 

Despite misgivings about Obama’s policies, the Quinnipiac poll also found the president remains personally popular with voters, which could be an asset on the campaign trail next year. 

Thirty percent of voters said they personally liked Obama, despite not liking his policies. Another 43 percent said they liked him personally and are in his corner when it comes to policy.  

The poll showed another Democrat who faces a tough contest in 2012 in decent shape ahead of next year. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a top GOP target next year, leads a generic Republican challenger 45 percent to 29 percent. 

The survey polled 1,384 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.