President Obama surges ahead of GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney in latest poll

President Barack Obama annouces Richard Cordray as his nominee to be the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on July 18, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

Pollsters suggest that President Obama’s handling of deficit-reduction talks and the perception that he will actively protect the middle class more than his Republican counterparts has helped him gain momentum several months ahead of the 2012 election.

While an ABC News-Washington Post survey released in early June had Obama tied with presumed Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, the latest poll shows that 51 percent of adults would choose the current president compared to 44 percent who would pick the former governor of Massachusetts.

The gap narrows among registered voters, as Obama’s lead over Romney shrinks to 49 percent compared to 47 percent.

“Obama looks to have turned the budget debate to his advantage,” Gary Langer, a pollster for ABC News, says in response to the results. “His position on the deficit is more broadly popular, he’s taking less heat than the GOP for unwillingness to compromise, and he’s got a sizable lead in the view that he cares more about protecting the middle class.”

Romney remains ahead of the pack by a wide margin in the GOP field, earning 26 percent of the vote from Republican primary voters and right-leaning independents.

Sarah Palin, who has yet to formally announce that she is running for the office of the presidency, came in second at 18 percent.

Public Policy Polling’s latest survey of voters who would likely favor GOP candidates, which was released Tuesday, had Michele Bachmann taking a one-point lead over Romney. But the Minnesota congresswoman fared far worse in the ABC News-Washington Post poll, finishing third with just 12 percent of the vote.

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