Poll: Voters sour on GOP convention, but Romney favorables outpace Obama

A new poll released Tuesday shows President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney deadlocked among likely voters — but the president continuing to lead by some 7 points among all registered voters. Neither is an encouraging sign for a Romney campaign that was hoping the Republican National Convention last week would provide them an edge in the polls and some momentum headed into the final months of the election.

Even more worrying for Republicans is that 46 percent of registered voters said what they saw or heard of the Republican convention in Tampa made them less likely to vote for Romney — versus just 36 percent who said it made them more likely. And more than half — 56 percent — said the GOP spent too much time criticizing the president at their convention. Those deficits suggest the GOP may have misfired in their week of programming.

The poll, conducted by CNN and ORC, found the Obama-Biden ticket and Romney-Ryan ticket pulling an identical 48 percent of likely voters — actually a marginal improvement over the same poll late last month, which gave Democrats a 2-point edge. But the president continues to hold a significant lead when it all registered voters — rather than the proportion the polling firm believes most likely to vote in November — are included in the poll. There, Obama leads Romney 52-45 percent, good for a 7-percentage-point lead.

There are some encouraging signs for Romney, however. Republicans were more likely to say they were "very" or "extremely" enthusiastic to vote. And in a sign that the convention might at the very least done its job softening the candidate to voters, Romney's favorables actually outpaced the president's for the first time this year. Some 53 percent of likely voters had a favorable opinion of the candidate, his highest number to day. By comparison, 51 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Obama.

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan also leads Joe Biden in terms of favorables, with 49 percent of likely voters dating they had a positive impression of him — versus just 46 percent for Biden. But while Biden holds that 46 percent favorability when all registered voters are asked for their opinion — not just those most likely to vote — Ryan slips to 42 percent favorability.

Romney continues to lead Obama on the economy, while the president gets the nod on foreign policy and Medicare. Romney is considered the more decisive leader, and voters believe he has a more optimistic vision for the country's future.

The president, meanwhile, is more likely to be see as in touch with the problems facing the middle class and women.

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