Obama holds big leads in Michigan in two new polls

By Cameron Joseph - 09/20/12 08:41 AM ET

President Obama leads Mitt Romney by a wide margin in Michigan, according to a new poll conducted for the Detroit News.

Obama leads Romney by 52 to 44 percent in a new poll from CNN and 52 to 38 percent in another poll conducted for the News by the Republican firm the Glengariff Group.

Polling in Michigan has been all over the place in recent days, though the most reputable pollsters have had Obama with a comfortable lead in the high single digits in the state. Michigan-based experts in both parties have told The Hill that matches with their views of the race.

If Romney could put the state in play it would make for a much easier path for him to win enough electoral votes — but these polls suggest that's a tall order.

Michigan, where Romney grew up, has long been a swing state at the presidential level, but Obama won the state by a wide margin in 2008 after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) cut off spending in the state in the closing weeks of the campaign.

There has been some disagreement about how competitive Michigan will be this time around. Democrats have expressed confidence they'll win Michigan running away and a strategist close to the Romney campaign told The Hill last week that the campaign had no plans to begin spending in the state, a sign it doesn't see Michigan as winnable.

But while the presidential campaigns haven't spent there, GOP outside groups led by the pro-Romney Restore Our Future have already spent more than $11 million in the state and went back on the air in Michigan on Wednesday.

Top Republican strategist Karl Rove predicted that the state "is going to be in play" during a debate in Lansing, Mich., with Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs on Wednesday night. He pointed to the Restore Our Future spending, though his group, the deep-pocketed American Crossroads, has notably not spent a dime in the state.

Gibbs strongly disagreed, telling the crowd that there are eight or nine states that are competitive and "you guys aren't one of them."

"Maybe Michigan is a battleground state," he continued. "We're spending $10,000 here and I bet we don't have to spend a whole lot more here."

The Detroit News poll also showed Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) with a big 16-point edge over former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the latest poll in the state to show her with a comfortable lead.