Bloomberg Has Obama With Large Lead

(Both of the caricatures above were done by DonkeyHotey.)

I know that polls don't mean a whole lot this far away from election day. Hell, we haven't even had the conventions yet. But I have been bothered by some of the recent polls that have been published by some organizations that show the race being very close between President Obama and Willard Mitt Romney. How can this be? President Obama has much more favorable ratings and most people agree with the positions he has taken, while Romney has lower favorable ratings and seems to be on the wrong side of nearly every issue.

But Bloomberg News has just released a poll that seems to make some sense. Bloomberg is a business-oriented publication, and one would expect that they would favor the Republican candidate -- but their poll shows the president with a rather large lead at this time. is this poll an outlier, or do they have a better feel for the political race. Personally, I tend to believe the Bloomberg statistics, but look at them and make up your own mind.

The survey was done between June 15th and 18th of 1,002 randomly selected national adults (with a margin of error of 3.1 points). Here are the results:

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FACING THE COUNTRY?
45% -- unemployment & jobs
18% -- federal deficit
13% -- health care
4% -- immigration
4% -- taxes
4% -- gas prices

ARE YOUR FEELINGS FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE OF THE FOLLOWING?

Barack Obama
favorable...............55%
unfavorable...............42%

Mitt Romney
favorable...............39%
unfavorable...............48%

Democratic Party
favorable...............50%
unfavorable...............43%

Republican Party
favorable...............41%
unfavorable...............50%

DO YOU APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE OF THE JOB OBAMA IS DOING AS PRESIDENT?
approve...............53%
disapprove...............44%

WOULD YOU VOTE FOR OBAMA OR ROMNEY IF THE ELECTION WAS HELD TODAY?
Barack Obama...............53%
Mitt Romney...............40%
Not sure...............5%
Would not vote...............2%

WHICH CANDIDATE IS MORE OUT OF TOUCH WITH AVERAGE AMERICANS?
Mitt Romney...............55%
Barack Obama...............36%
Not sure...............9%

WHICH CANDIDATE WOULD BE BEST IN UNDERSTANDING YOUR PROBLEMS?
Barack Obama...............55%
Mitt Romney...............35%
Not sure...............10%

WHICH CANDIDATE WOULD BE BEST IN GETTING THE ECONOMY GOING?
Barack Obama...............48%
Mitt Romney...............43%
Not sure...............9%

WHICH CANDIDATE WOULD BE BEST IN DEALING WITH WORLD LEADERS?
Barack Obama...............57%
Mitt Romney...............36%
Not sure...............7%

DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH OBAMA'S NEW IMMIGRATION POLICY?
Agree...............64%
Disagree...............30%
Not sure...............6%

WHICH IS THE BEST WAY FOR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO CREATE JOBS?
51% -- invest in infrastructure projects & alternative energy
43% -- cut spending and lower taxes
6% -- not sure