Florida: Unemployment Numbers Bring Chill for Obama, Warming for Romney

Uh, David Plouffe, I’ve got news for ya…

The unemployment rate is sinking Obama in Florida. Mitt Romney’s ‘Mr. Fix-It’ credentials are helping him rise in Florida:

U.S. Jobless Numbers Dragging Obama Down in Florida

A slipping economy has Floridians moving away from President Barack Obama and warming up to Republican Mitt Romney, a Sunshine State News Poll shows.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters shows that 54 percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing while just 38 percent approve. That result tracks with Florida voters’ sour view of the economy, with 56 percent saying it has worsened in the past year.

“Clearly, the bleak economic landscape is not good news for Obama. This is quite sobering when you consider that the recession technically ended in summer of 2009, which really shows that people don’t believe we are out of the woods by any stretch,” said Jim Lee, president of Harrisburg, Pa.-based Voter Survey Service, which conducted the poll for Sunshine State News.

Today’s numbers may be even worse for Obama, considering that the July 5-7 survey concluded a day before the latest jobless figures were released last Friday. The national unemployment rate rose again to 9.2 percent as the economy added just 18,000 jobs in June.

“Obama’s negative job approval shows there is a major opening for the GOP to win the state in 2012, particularly when you consider that Obama only won by a close 51-48 margin last time,” Lee said. “No president since FDR has won re-election when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent.”

Economists calculate that the economy would have to add a whopping 250,000 jobs every month for the next year to drive the unemployment rate below 7.5 percent.

Lee said the numbers are working in Romney’s favor.

“Romney is clearly running as the ‘most qualified’ candidate to get the economy back on track, while candidates like Michele Bachmann and others are talking more about issues that play to the tea party base — spending, deficits, not raising the debt limit, etc.

“Romney wins Republicans 74-14, while Democrats are voting for Obama 71-20, but independents are still up for grabs, with Romney leading 42-38,” Lee reported.

Touting his private-sector experience, Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, hammered Obama on Sunday, saying:

“In February of 2009 — 29 months ago — President Obama signed into law his $787 billion stimulus bill that would, the administration predicted, bring unemployment under 8 percent. Unemployment was at 8.2 percent the month the stimulus bill passed. The next month, it rose to 8.6 percent, and it has not been below 8.8 percent since. It has risen for three straight months, hitting 9.2 percent in June.”

(emphasis added)

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► Jayde Wyatt