Obama Holds Strong Lead Over GOP Contenders

The president got a small bump in the polls over the killing of Osama bin Laden recently, but it wasn't as large as many people thought it would be and is unlikely to last very long -- certainly not through the 2012 election. But if the results of the recent Ipsos/Reuters Poll is anywhere near correct, he may not need the "bin Laden bump" to win. This poll (taken between May 5th and May 9th of 1,029 adults nationwide -- with a 3 point margin of error) shows that if the election were held today the president would easily win re-election.

Although only 34% of the respondents approved of the way the president is handling the economy, evidently they don't like what the Republicans are doing either (since 52% want a combination of budget cuts and tax raises rather than just the budget cuts the GOP wants). The president gets a 49% to 47% approval rating on his overall job performance, and now 45% of the people think the president will be re-elected (up from 35% last October).

While those numbers may look close, when the president is matched against possible Republican candidates he leads them all by 12 points or more (well beyond the margin of error). Here are the numbers in head-to-head match-ups:

Obama...............51%
Romney...............38%

Obama...............51%
Pawlenty...............33%

Obama...............51%
Huntsman...............30%

Obama...............51%
Huckabee...............39%

Obama...............54%
Palin...............35%

Obama...............51%
Daniels...............33%

Obama...............53%
Gingrich...............35%

Obama...............54%
Bachmann...............33%

Obama...............57%
Trump...............30%