Elon Poll finds Obama more favorable than Romney in N.C.

A recent Elon Poll found more North Carolina residents think favorably of President Barack Obama than the likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney. The poll indicated 49 percent of residents think favorably of Obama, while only 28 percent think favorably of Romney.

Nevertheless, there is less of a discrepancy between the numbers that view each politician unfavorable. Of those polled, 42 percent of residents think unfavorably of Obama, while 43 percent view Romney unfavorably. The remaining residents were unsure of their opinions, indicating a greater ambivalence toward Romney than Obama.

“Obama’s numbers will stay fairly consistent, because people know if they like him or they don’t,” said John Robinson, director of communications for the Elon University Poll. “But Romney’s numbers will shift dramatically. The 28 percent (who are unsure of their opinion of Romney) will go one way or the other. Most of them will, anyway.”

Romney’s favorability will most likely increase when he visits North Carolina, Robinson said.

“People don’t know about Romney,” he said. “And they want to see him here (in North Carolina). They want to see him on the front page of the newspapers and on their local TV stations.”

With more than six months until the presidential elections in November, Romney has plenty of time to compensate for his absence, Robinson said. But North Carolina is a swing state in this year’s election, and a significant portion of the state’s population may disagree with Romney’s campaign.

“If North Carolina really is a battleground state, frankly Romney needs to come down and do some battle so people can see who he really is,” Robinson said.

Romney must also appeal to a large population of college students within the state.

“The campaign has brought up a number of issues that could be important to students, like loans and interest, choices for women and health care issues,” said Sharon Spray, political science professor and chair of the political science department.  “There are a number of things that could make students more interested (in the election). I’m not sure if students will be highly motivated to vote but a lot can happen between now and November.”