ANCHORAGE – With the 2012 presidential election less than six months away, the race continues to take shape.
A poll conducted earlier this month by CBS News and the New York Times shows presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney with a three-point lead over President Obama. But while 46 percent of registered voter respondents said they would vote for Romney and 43 percent opted for the incumbent, the gap fell within the polls margin of error, placing the candidates virtually neck and neck.
The trend spanned presidential polls dating back to January, and voters said they made their decisions based on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to health care. The economy remained the deciding factor, though, and the margin between candidates was much wider among economic anchors in key swing states.
According to another poll released today by the online business community Manta.com, nearly 60 percent of small business owners in nine states across the country said they’d vote for the Republican ticket in November.
In the survey of nearly 400 owners in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin, only 32 percent said they would vote for Obama.
Health care, tax policy and government regulation were all considerations for the nearly 1,600 small business owners polled nationwide. Nearly half of respondents said they felt the GOP was the most supportive of small business.
