Economy Of Motion

This month's WaPo/ABC News poll shows President Obama up 49-46 and more importantly, both men tied at 47% on the most important issue to voters:  the economy.

After months of aggressive campaigning on jobs and the economy, President Obama and Mitt Romney, his likely Republican challenger, are locked in a dead heat over who could fix the problem foremost on voters’ minds, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The parity on economic issues foreshadows what probably will continue to be a tough and negative campaign. Overall, voters would be split 49 percent for Obama and 46 percent for Romney if the November election were held now. On handling the economy, they are tied at 47 percent.

Despite flare-ups over issues including contraception and same-sex marriage, more than half of all Americans cite the economy as the one concern that will decide their vote in the fall, relegating others — such as health care, taxes and the federal deficit — to single-digit status.

More than eight in 10 Americans still rate the national economy negatively, but there are strains of optimism as it continues to recover from the collapse of 2008. A majority of Americans — 54 percent — say they are more hopeful than anxious about the situation over the next few years, while 58 percent are bullish about their financial prospects. 

Mitt Romney keeps saying he wants to talk about the economy...but he's not winning that battle despite the economy being pretty lousy still.  It's getting better, and there are enough people who think so that the issue that Romney's supposed to be winning on is instead a wash.

Bad news for Mittens.  I guess we're in for another 23 weeks of Romney saying he wants to talk about the economy and having his SuperPACs talk about Jeremiah Wright and POTUS's birth certificate instead.