By President Barack Obama holds an edge over Mitt Romney in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, a new Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll out Wednesday shows.
When likely voters in the three battleground states were asked whom they would vote for if the election were held today, here's the way it broke down:
- Florida: Obama, 51 percent; Romney, 45 percent.
- Ohio: Obama, 50 percent; Romney 44 percent
- Pennsylvania: Obama, 53 percent; Romney 42 percent
No one has won the White House since 1960 without winning at least two of the states. Obama won all three in 2008.
Support for Obama's proposal to increase taxes on households making more than $250,000 per year is 58 to 37 percent in Florida, 60 to 37 percent in Ohio and 62 to 34 percent in Pennsylvania, the survey finds.
Obama is expected to focus on his tax proposal Wednesday during campaign stops in Ohio.
"If today were Nov. 6, President Barack Obama would sweep the key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania and — if history is any guide — into a second term in the Oval Office," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The president is running better in the key swing states than he is nationally. Part of the reason may be that the unemployment rate in Ohio is well below the national average. In Florida it has been dropping over the past year, while nationally that has not been the case."
The polls were conducted by telephone from July 24-July 30 among 1,177 likely voters in Florida, 1,193 likely voters in Ohio and 1,168 likely voters in Pennsylvania. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.9 percentage points in Florida and Pennsylvania and 2.8 percentage points in Ohio.
