More Americans approve of President Barack Obama's campaign for president than approve of Mitt Romney's, according to a Washington Post/ABC poll released Wednesday morning.
Victory, in this case, was relative, with only 46 percent looking favorably on how Obama is running his campaign, compared to 45 percent who felt unfavorably. But Romney fared worse, garnering only 38 percent favorable ratings to 49 percent unfavorable. Nearly a quarter of Republicans also held unfavorable views of his campaign.
As Gary Langer of Langer Research Associates, which produced the survey, notes, "With the race so close -- the pair were precisely tied in an ABC/Post poll last week -- views of their effectiveness running their campaigns can matter."
Last week's ABC/Post poll showed voters evenly split in their vote preferences, 46 percent to 46 percent, but the questions about campaign effectiveness were new this week.
Democrats were more highly positive about their candidate than Republicans were about theirs, supporting Obama's campaign by a 75-18 margin.
Romney, who has been battling perceptions of unenthusiastic support from the Republican establishment, as well as increasing calls from within his own party to release more of his tax returns, scored 66 percent favorable and 24 percent unfavorable among Republicans for his campaign.
Independents slightly preferred Obama's campaign, viewing it positively by a 1-point margin, while 5 percent more disapproved of Romney's than approved.
The Post/ABC poll used live phone interviews to survey 1,015 adults between July 11 and July 15. It had a 3.5 percent margin of error.
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