Florida Poll: Romney Beats Obama in Hypothetical Race

Republican Mitt Romney now leads President Barack Obama in a hypothetical matchup in Florida 46 to 42 percent. The survey of 1,000 likely voters shows that 54 percent disapprove of the job the president is doing, according to a Sunshine State News Poll.

"Clearly, the bleak economic landscape is not good news for Obama. This is quite sobering when you consider that the recession technically ended in summer of 2009, which really shows that people don’t believe we are out of the woods by any stretch," Jim Lee, president of Harrisburg, Pa.-based Voter Survey Service that conducted the survey, said according to Sunshine State News.

Lee said that Romney is “is clearly running as the 'most qualified' candidate to get the economy back on track, while candidates like Michele Bachmann and others are talking more about issues that play to the tea party base -- spending, deficits, not raising the debt limit, etc.”

He told Sunshine State News that Romney wins the support of Republicans 74 to 14 percent while Democrats support Obama 71 to 20 percent and independents favor Romney 42 to 38 percent.

Obama polled better than Romney only in the heavily Democratic area of Southeast Florida where he led 57 to 33 percent. "Next year’s election will be much closer for Obama, even if he manages to squeak it out," Lee told the publication.