Poll: Obama retains national lead, struggles on economy

A new poll from Fox News released Thursday showed President Obama with a narrow lead over challenger Mitt Romney, a rebound for the president after a similar survey released Wednesday showed his Republican rival edging ahead.

Obama leads Romney by 4 points, 45 percent to 41, according to the survey. Those numbers are roughly in line with other recent national polls, although a survey released Wednesday by CBS and The New York Times showed Romney with a 47-46 point advantage.

Still, there were discouraging signs for the president in the Fox News survey. By a nearly 3-to-1 margin, voters say government is the problem — rather than the solution — to current economic woes. And 55 percent of voters say the president is making the government "bigger and more expensive."

Obama could have a tough sell arguing, as he has at recent campaign stops, that government can help enable job creation. Three in four voters say Americans rely too much on the government, and three in 10 say most Americans would prefer to live off the government dole than work for a living.

The president also continued to struggle on economic questions in the survey, with nearly half (49 percent) of voters saying he has made the economy worse. Compared to 37 percent who say he has improved the economy, Obama posts a 12 percentage-point deficit on that crucial metric.

The poll also found voters split on the president's tax proposal. While voters supported tax increases on those making more than $250,000 per year by a 10-point margin, some 72 percent say it's a bad idea to raise taxes during an economic downturn. 

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