President Barack Obama holds a clear lead over Mitt Romney in a hypothetical general election match-up, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Among all Americans, Obama leads Romney 52 to 43 percent, whereas among registered voters, the presidents has a narrower edge over Romney, 51 to 45 percent. This is the first time that Obama has more than 50 percent of the votes in a match-up against Romney among all Americans since July, when the president led the GOP candidate, 51 to 44 percent.
But the president has progress to make in instilling economic confidence in Americans - asked which candidate can be trusted to do a better job in handling the economy, 48 percent of the general population picked Romney over 45 percent that picked Obama. The Republican frontrunner also fared better job creation, narrowly beating Obama 47 to 45 percent, as well as the handling of the federal budget and deficit, 51 to 41 percent.
It is the first time that the president has topped 50 percent in a match-up against Romney among registered voters.
The survey also showed, however, that people trust Obama will be a better champion of the middle class than Romney, 55 to 37 percent. Also, 56 percent of the general population said they trust that the president would do a better job handling international affairs compared to just 37 percent that picked Romney. Similarly, the majority said the president's handling of terrorism will be better than Romney's, 56 to 36 percent.
Obama is also seen as having a better understanding of the American people's economic problems than Romney, 53 to 36 percent.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted Feb. 1-4 among 1,000 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
