Obama up by 2 points in Va., poll finds

President Barack Obama is leading GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Virginia by two percentage points, according to a Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released Saturday.

{mosads}The poll, commissioned by the liberal group Health Care for America Now, found that Obama continues to hold a slim lead over the former Massachusetts governor in the swing state, where 49 percent of voters support Obama and 47 percent favor Romney. Earlier Virginia polls by PPP reported that Obama had a one- to three-percentage-point advantage over Romney.

The new poll’s findings conflict with a Rasmussen poll released Friday that found Romney had a three-percentage-point lead over Obama.

Roughly 53 percent of likely Virginia voters in the new poll reported that they disapproved of Obama’s job performance as president. Obama received approval from 45 percent of surveyed voters.

Voters also said they trust Obama more than Romney to stand up for the middle class by a 53-to-45-percent margin, the poll found. Additionally, 50 percent of likely Virginia voters reported that they trust Obama to make sure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of taxes, while 43 percent said the same for Romney.

The new poll also found that Obama has a four-percentage-point lead over Romney with Virginia seniors. PPP said that may be attributed to the survey’s finding that 51 percent of likely Virginia voters said they had more trust in Obama when it came to protecting Medicare, while 46 percent of voters chose Romney on that issue.

Romney had significant leads over Obama with men and white voters in Virginia. Approximately 53 percent of men said they supported Romney while 43 percent reported they would back Obama. A whopping 59 percent of white voters said they planned to vote for Romney while 44 percent said they planned to support the president.

On the other hand, Obama had a 12-percentage-point lead over Romney with Virginia women and 54 percent of voters under 30 years old said they planned to vote for Obama over Romney.

The two presidential candidates were tied when it came to support from the state’s independent voters, with 45 percent of those voters choosing Romney and 44 percent supporting Obama.

The PPP poll of 500 likely Virginia voters has a 4-point margin of error.