With independent voters shifting to his side, President Obama has regained the lead in Florida over presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, while in the Florida Senate race, Democrat Bill Nelson would edge Republican Connie Mack, a poll Thursday shows.

The Quinnipiac University survey showed Obama with a 46-42 percent lead over Romney, reversing its own May poll that showed the Republican with the advantage in the nation’s biggest toss-up state.

Independent voters, which a month ago were siding more with Romney, have shifted toward Obama, who now holds a 46-37 percent advantage in those not allied with either party.

“At this point, Romney is not well-defined in the minds of many voters, especially those in the middle,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll.  “This movement reflects that uncertainty among voters who are up for grabs.”

Florida’s U.S. Senate race also appears up-for-grabs. The survey’s release coincided with the departure of Republican George LeMieux from the race, whose dropping out appears to clear the nomination path for Mack, already the clear frontrunner.

Mack was supported by 41 percent of Republican voters in the survey, with neither remaining rivals, former Army Col. Mike McCalister or former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon cracking double digits.

Nelson, seeking a third term in the Senate, still tops Mack by 43-39 percent, Quinnipiac found. Mack and Nelson were tied in the school’s May survey.

Brown said the “projected November election between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Mack looks like it could go down to the wire.”

“Sen. Nelson gets modest reviews from voters who give him a 47 – 32 percent job approval rating,” Brown said. “By 46 – 33 percent they say he deserves another term.  He gets a 44 – 26 percent favorability rating.  By comparison, Mack has a 34 – 22 percent favorability rating, with 42 percent who don’t know enough about him to form an opinion.”

The telephone survey was conducted June 12-18 and included 1,697 registered voters. It has a margin-of-error of plus-or-minus 2.4 percentage points.

 

 

An NBC News/Marist poll released Sunday shows President Obama with a roughly even approval/disapproval rating in the crucial Sunshine State. A few days earlier, Quinnipiac University released a poll showing Obama’s approval ratings deep underwater.

The Marist survey of 2,119 registered Florida voters, conducted Dec. 4-7, shows 46 percent approving of the job Obama is doing as president, with 45 percent disapproving — essentially a tie given the poll’s 2.1 percent margin of error. That’s an improvement from October, when the same poll found 41 percent approving and 49 percent disapproving.

Quinnipiac University’s polls are bleaker for Obama. A Nov. 28-Dec. 5 Quinnipiac poll of 1,226 Florida voters shows only 41 percent approving of the way Obama is handling his job, with 54 percent disapproving. That’s essentially unchanged from early November, when Quinnipiac found Obama with a 41 percent approval score and 52 percent disapproval.

Both the latest Quinnipiac and Marist polls show Newt Gingrich with a double-digit lead in Florida’s Republican presidential primary race. Quinnipiac’s last poll had Gingrich at 35 percent and Mitt Romney at 22 percent among Republicans. Marist shows Gingrich with a 39-26 lead over Romney among Republican voters and a 42-27 edge among likey GOP voters. When leaners are pushed to support one candidate or another, Marist’s poll shows Gingrich with a 44-29 edge among likey GOP voters.

Florida congressional Democrats and Republican have been sparring over who to blame if the standoff over raising the debt ceiling leads to a government default.

But a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows President Obama may be winning the war of words.

The survey of 2,311 voters across the nation, shows:

*Voters will blame Republicans over Obama 48 – 34 percent if the debt limit is not raised;

* Voters say 67 – 25 percent that an agreement to raise the debt ceiling should include tax hikes for the wealthy and corporations, not just spending cuts;

* Voters say 45 – 37 percent that Obama’s proposals to raise revenues are “closing loopholes,” rather than “tax hikes.”

And who do voters blame for the nation’s lousy economy? 

“”Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of President Obama’s handling of the economy, but by 2-1 they pin the blame on former President George W. Bush rather than Obama, who is now more than 60 percent through his term of office,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

With the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks about to battle for the NBA title, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Texas Gov. Rick Perry put their own state’s products, and bragging rights, on the line Tuesday.

Scott put up a key lime pie against Perry’s case of Texas barbecue sauce on the outcome of the best-of-seven-games series. Scott may have already tried to get inside Perry’s head by warning earlier this month that he wanted to top Texas’ best-in-the-nation for business title.

Perry, meanwhile, is talking about running for president. Scott is still dissecting last week’s Quinnipiac University poll and his cratering popularity level.