Obama, Romney essentially tied in Florida, poll shows

By the News Service of Florida

President Barack Obama and his presumptive GOP opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, are in a statistical dead heat in the nation's largest swing state about six months before voters head to the polls, according to a new poll from Suffolk University and WSVN-Miami. The survey shows Obama holding 46 percent of the vote to Romney's 45 percent, with 7 percent undecided. But Romney's selection of a running mate could swing the results -- with 47 percent of voters backing a ticket with Romney and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, compared to 44 percent for Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. A ticket with Romney and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would lead Obama-Biden by a 47-45 margin. In January, the Suffolk/WSVN poll showed Romney with a 47 percent to 42 percent lead over Obama as the Republican primary was getting underway. "Despite locking up the Republican nomination and a strong showing in the Florida Republican primary in January, Romney still has a lot of work to do to win over Florida voters," said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston, in a news release. "He would need to repair the fallout of negativity from the Republican primaries by being more likable and offering general-election voters a positive alternative to President Obama." The poll, which has a margin of error of 4 percent, included telephone interviews of 600 registered voters from May 6-8.