Michigan Poll: Obama and Romney in dead heat

Foster McCollum White Baydoun (FMW)^B, a national public opinion polling and voter analytics consulting firm based in Michigan and representing the combined resources of Foster McCollum White & Associates (Troy Michigan) and Baydoun Consulting (Dearborn Michigan) conducted a telephone-automated polling random survey of Michigan registered and most likely November 2012 General election voters for Fox 2 News Detroit to determine their voting and issue preferences for the presidential election.

An initial qualifying statement was read to respondents asking them to participate only if they were very likely to vote in the November General Election.

Thirty five thousand (35,000) calls were placed, and 1,122 respondents fully participated in the survey. The margin of error for this total polling sample is 2.93% with a confidence level of 95%.

The 2012 United States Presidential election will be held on November 6, 2012. Who are you most likely to vote for in the election?

President Barack Obama             46.92%
Republican Nominee Mitt Romney            46.56%
another candidate            2.30%
Undecided             4.23%

President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney participated in three presidential debates on October. Did their debate performances affect your vote for President?

It confirmed my candidate choice    50.86%
It made me change my candidate    12.24%
It had no affect on my candidate    30.68%
I didn’t watch the debate    6.22%

Did the performance of the candidates at any of the debates make you more likely to vote for either one of them? (This question asked only to those who said they watched the debate)

The debate made you more likely to vote for Governor Romney    34.56%
The debate made you more likely to vote for President Obama    34.52%
The debate made you an undecided voter    2.86%
The debate did not change your likely choice for President    28.07%

Which candidate are you more confident in to address our country’s economic challenges such as job creation, gas prices, the rising cost of healthcare, energy development and housing values?

President Obama    48.43%
Mitt Romney    47.25%
Have no confidence in either candidate to address domestic challenges    4.33%

Which candidate are you more confident in to address women’s issues such as equal pay, educational access, health care and contraception needs and breaking the glass ceiling?   

President Obama    51.07%
Mitt Romney    42.25%
Have no confidence in either candidate to address domestic challenges    6.68%

Which candidate are you more confident in to address immigration and the problem of over 20 million undocumented people living in America?   

President Obama    46.54%
Mitt Romney    47.54%
Have no confidence in either candidate to address domestic challenges    5.91%

Which candidate do you have more confidence in to address the challenges our country faces in the areas of national security and foreign policy?

President Obama    50.17%
Mitt Romney    45.83%
Have no confidence in either candidate to address domestic challenges    4.00%

The debate over the economy rages on. Governor Romney cites 23 million Americans who are looking for work and the growing number of people living in poverty. President Obama cites 31 months of private sector job growth, the automotive industry recovery and a declining unemployment rate. Do you believe that the economy is improving, staying the same or getting worse?

The economy is improving    45.54%
The economy is stationary    20.98%
The economy is getting worse    33.48%

Do you believe either President Obama or Governor Romney have provided enough details about their plans to fix America’s challenges?

Believe only President Obama provided enough details    39.57%
Believe only Governor Romney provided enough details    32.53%
Believe both President Obama and Governor Romney provided enough details    6.63%
Believe neither candidates have provided enough details    21.27%

This poll originally published on My Fox Detroit