Obama, Romney tied in presidential race: Poll

Washington, May 23 (IANS) Americans are split between President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney less than six months before the presidential poll in November, according to two new polls.

A Washington Post/ABC News survey released Tuesday showed the two candidates statistically tied with 49 percent of Americans backing Obama and 46 percent supporting Romney.

When asked which contender would best handle the economy, Obama and Romney were tied at 47 percent.

A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released also showed that voters are nearly evenly split between Obama (47 percent) and Romney (43 percent).

Voters were inclined against Obama's handling of the economy - 52 percent disapproved, while 43 percent approved. The numbers were nearly reversed for his handling of foreign policy.

Polls have shown the economy as the issue of most concern to voters, The NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey shows nearly half of voters say they expect the economy to stay stagnant over the next year. One-third expect it to improve, and 19 percent foresee the economy worsening.

A marked enthusiasm gap opened between the two candidates in the Washington Post/ABC poll.

Forty-eight percent of Obama's supporters said they were "very enthusiastic" about the president's candidacy, compared to 23 percent of Romney's backers who said they were "very enthusiastic" about supporting the Republican candidate.

Asked further about each candidate's character, voters seemed to favour Obama. They gave Obama higher marks on "understanding the economic problems people in this country are having" (48 percent-40 percent), as well as "has the better moral character to serve as president" (52 percent-38 percent).

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)