Politics & Government

Obama Leads Romney in Virginia

President Barack Obama is favorite, particularly among African Americans and women, but policies have mixed reviews from voters

As he prepares to officially kick off his re-election campaign Saturday in Richmond, President Barack Obama is leading former Massachusetts Governor and likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney by seven percentage points.

Obama is leading by a margin of 51 to 44 percent, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The major issues of Obama's  presidency — namely, health care reform and the nation's low morale about the state of the economy — still divide voters in Northern Virginia and beyond, leaving plenty of room for Romney to capture voters in what is likely to become a battleground state come November, the Post reports.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While visiting Chantilly on Wednesday, Romney slammed Obama for some of those issues, saying the president has not improved the economy and runs an anti-small business administration.

Still, Romney has not been able to improve his rating in Virginia, according to a poll taken this time last year.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For Patch video of Romney's talk,

And among certain groups, the distance between he and Obama is even greater: African Americans support the president 97 to 1 percent; among women, Obama leads 56 to 38 percent.

Obama will visit Washington Lee High School in Arlington on Friday before heading to Richmond on Saturday.

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Correction: Obama spoke at Washington Lee High School.


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