(Week of 5/19/2012) Those with some college experience but not a four-year college degree will be an important swing group in the 2012 Presidential election. The overall horse-race between President Obama and his presumptive Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, is at this time a close and volatile contest with many lead changes in the Economist/YouGov poll and most other weekly or daily national tracking measures.
In this week’s poll, Obama leads Romney by 46%-42%, with Obama earning a 44% approve-50% disapprove overall job rating nationwide. In last week’s poll, Romney led and Obama’s approval ratings were languishing. A lot of that volatility can be found among those in the middle—not the best educated, but not those bereft of any experience with higher education.
Overall, Obama’s approval rating with those with some college experience is 50% approve-45% disapprove, as those with some college experience are 6 percentage points more likely to approve of Obama’s overall performance than are all Americans.
On the issues, Obama’s approval rating among those with some college experience exceeds his approval rating from all Americans to the greatest degree on the economy (46% of those with some college approve, compared with 39% of all Americans, for a +7 difference in the views of those with some college over all Americans on the most important election issue), health care (45% of some college, just 39% of all Americans approve), gay rights (45% of some college, just 39% of all Americans), as well as two issues on which Obama scores extremely poorly with all Americans, not quite so dismally with those having some college experience (immigration and the budget deficit).
Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here
Photo source: Press Association
