Not lovin' him

In a new poll released last week, President Barack Obama's disapproval rating soared to 54 percent in Virginia, a battleground state he took from Republicans in 2008 and will likely need to carry next year to win reelection.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, based on telephone interviews with 1,368 registered voters Sept. 7-12, found that only 40 percent of voters approved of the president's performance, down from 48 percent in June. Six percent were undecided. The survey's margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

The results mirror other polls that show a continuing slide in the president's popularity in a slow, troubled economy. No president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has won a second term when the unemployment rate in America has been above 7.2 percent.

In the Virginia survey, 51 percent said they did not think Obama deserves to be reelected, compared to 41 percent who would reelect him. Eight percent didn't know or would not say.

Most troubling for Obama is his poor performance among independents. Sixty-three percent of unaligned voters disapproved of the way the president is handling his duties while only 29 percent approved.

Dr. Charles W. Dunn, the distinguished professor of government at Regent University, said Obama must rebuild his coalition to win Virginia. In the 2008 election, young voters and African-Americans supported Obama in droves. Not so today, Dunn said: "His coalition is breaking up."

This isn't the first time Obama has trailed in Virginia. Before then-Gov. Tim Kaine endorsed him, he was viewed as a long shot behind Hilary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. A year later he came back to soundly defeat Clinton in Virginia's presidential primary.

While a comeback in the economy or in his approval rating is possible, Republican front-runners Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are gaining ground. Obama needs to pay special attention to Perry in Virginia, said Dunn: "[Perry] has charisma. People really look to him." Perry is also popular in Sun Belt states, knows how to raise money, and enjoys a strong record for creating jobs.

Perry also has evangelical Christian credentials. "He doesn't back down," Dunn said. "Evangelicals will be very excited about him."

In the Quinnipiac poll of Virginia voters, Perry shot to the front of a 10-candidate GOP field among respondents who identified themselves as Republicans or Republican-leaning voters. Twenty-five percent listed Perry as their top choice, and 19 percent said Romney was their favorite. No other candidate polled in double digits.

Given a choice between Perry and Romney, 43 percent of Virginia Republicans chose Perry and 36 percent picked Romney.

White, evangelical Christians in the poll preferred Perry 51 percent to 29 percent over Romney.

In hypothetical matchups against Obama, the poll found that Perry and Romney were in statistical dead heats with the president. In a pairing against Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Obama came out ahead 48 percent to 37 percent. Against Sarah Palin, who has not declared her candidacy, 50 percent chose Obama to 35 percent for the former Alaska governor.

The poll was released as candidates began targeting Virginia voters. Obama kicked off his nationwide tour aimed at pressuring Congress to adopt his jobs bill in Richmond on Friday. Perry delivered speeches Wednesday at a convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg and a sold-out GOP fundraiser in Richmond.

Quinnipiac found that Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine remain statistically deadlocked in Virginia's 2012 U.S. Senate race. Forty-five percent favored Allen, running to win back the seat he lost to Democrat Jim Webb in 2006, while 44 percent chose Kaine, the former Democratic National Committee chairman. Both are former Virginia governors.

Allen holds a strong fundraising advantage over an untested GOP primary field that was not included in Quinnipiac's poll. It includes Virginia Tea Party leader Jamie Radtke.

Kaine is a personal and political ally of Obama's, was among the first to endorse him for president in 2007, and helped engineer his 2008 Virginia victory, the first for a Democrat running for president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. A bad year for Obama cannot help Kaine, just as former President George W. Bush's low popularity in 2006 contributed to Allen's reelection defeat.

The Quinnipiac poll also found majorities who oppose the war in Afghanistan and Obama's 2010 healthcare reform law.

Fifty-four percent said the United States should not still be fighting in Afghanistan, now the nation's longest war. Thirty-seven percent said it's right for U.S. forces to be there and 9 percent didn't know or would not say. Fifty-one percent said the healthcare law should be repealed while 38 percent said it should stand and 11 percent were undecided or had no answer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.