[Andromino]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53570.html

Mitt Romney tops weak Barack Obama in New Hampshire, poll shows

Mitt Romney is the only Republican candidate leading President Obama in New Hampshire, according to a new poll from Dartmouth College's Nelson A. Rockefeller Center.

In the center’s fourth “State of the State” survey, Romney tops Obama in a general election matchup by 8 points, 47 percent to 39 percent.

No other Republican comes close to that mark: Obama leads Mike Huckabee by 8 points, Tim Pawlenty by 16, Haley Barbour by 19, Donald Trump by 22 and Sarah Palin by a yawning 27-point margin.

Romney’s stronger performance comes from his appeal to independent and undeclared voters, who make up a hugely influential bloc in New Hampshire’s primary and general elections.

Among voters unaffiliated with either party, Romney beats Obama, 44 percent to 36 percent. He is the only active Republican contender tested in the poll who beats Obama with those key voters.

While no Republican candidate defeats Obama except Romney, several — including Barbour, Pawlenty and Huckabee — hold him under 50 percent of the vote and have room to grow as they become better known.

Pawlenty drew only 25 percent support against Obama, and Barbour was at just 23 percent, but Obama didn’t take a majority of the vote against either of them.

Dartmouth professor Ronald Shaiko, who conducted the poll, noted that many voters are “not willing to make a claim for Obama when they don’t even know the other person.”

The president’s fundamentals in the Granite State are not strong: His job approval has fallen to 36 percent positive, 47 percent negative, and 60 percent of respondents described the national economy as “poor.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz1KJPwLBdF

[WeestDype]

Eighteen months out, a poll of 426 registered voters with a +/- 4.8% in New Hampshire means practically nothing.