Obama Holds Lead Over Romney In NJ, Poll Finds
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Personality is giving President Barack Obama the edge over Mitt Romney among New Jersey voters surveyed in a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Wednesday.
Obama continues to hold a double-digit lead with 51 percent of likely voters saying they'd vote for him compared to 37 percent for Mitt Romney.
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The president maintains his lead despite 57 percent of likely New Jersey voters saying the country is on the wrong track.
Poll Director David Redlawsk says voters surveyed like Obama better than Romney, although they believe Romney is a stronger leader.
"The president leads in New Jersey primarily because of his personal qualities," Redlawsk said in statement. "Voters like him better and feel he shares their values and cares about them. While Romney keeps it closer on the hard issue of the economy, and wins easily on leadership, voters generally prefer to support someone they like over someone they don't."
Sixty-two percent of likely New Jersey voters polled say the most important issue is economy and jobs.
The survey of 710 likely voters has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
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