Christie has denied emphatically that he has any interest in running for higher office this year, but that hasn't stopped speculation
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President Obama (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT) would lead Gov. Chris Christie (Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger) in a presidential race, a national poll found.TRENTON — President Barack Obama leads Gov. Chris Christie in a hypothetical match-up, according a poll released today.
Christie has denied emphatically that he has any interest in running for higher office this year, but that hasn't stopped speculation.
In a national poll conducted by left-leaning Public Policy Polling, Obama would be ahead of Christie 48 to 39 percent. The poll pitted Obama against several hypothetical Republican opponents.
Among independents, the poll found Obama beating most hypothetical Republican candidates by double digits. The exception was Christie, who trailed the president by 7 percentage points among independents.
Obama performed best against former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, receiving 54 percent compared to the former vice presidential candidates 36 percent. Obama had the worse numbers when pitted against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has formed an exploratory committee. Obama received 47 percent and Romney 41 percent.
“Obama’s negative approval rating and leads over Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney that are smaller than his 2008 margin of victory show that he is somewhat weakened,” Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, said in a news release. “But the weakness of the Republican candidate field would still allow him to be re-elected if we voted today.”
The poll also asked national approval numbers for the hypothetical candidates. Christie had a 28 percent favorable, 30 percent unfavorable and 42 percent not sure appraisal by those polled.
The poll of 531 registered voters had a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points.
Previous coverage:
• Gov. Christie says Obama needs to 'get in and lead' to avert U.S. government shutdown
• Poll: Chris Christie is nation's most popular politician
• Gov. Christie wouldn't get more votes than President Obama in race for White House, poll says
• Mulshine: This talk about Christie in the White House is getting old
• Poll: Is Gov. Christie running for president?
• Talk about Gov. Christie running for president hasn't impacted his work, poll says
• Obama would carry N.J. over Christie in 2012 presidential election, poll finds
• Gov. Christie dismisses poll naming him leading GOP presidential candidate
