A new Politico/GWU poll lays out some hard numbers that show the difficulty a real Republican candidate will have when running against President Obama. Via Jed Lewison at DailyKos:

N = 1,000 Registered “likely” voters

Margin of error ±3.1%

Field Dates: November 6-9, 201

 

President Obama: 43

Generic Republican: 43

 

President Obama: 49

Mitt Romney: 43

 

President Obama: 49

Herman Cain: 40

I think it’s safe to say by now that the Generic Republican Candidate is not going to make an appearance this late into the race, so that matchup lacks actual relevance. If anything, it’s really more of a  measure of Obama’s approval rating than a clear choice by registered voters that they would prefer a Republican be in the White House. On the other hand, the poll unmistakably shows that Mitt Romney and Herman Cain seem to come way short in numbers when facing Obama.

I can’t imagine Mitt Romney’s numbers going much higher when pitted against Obama. He’s been on the scene for a while and it’s difficult to sway the already large anti-Romney contingent to become supporters. The only thing that he has going for him is the overarching public sentiment that Obama isn’t too good of a leader. But it’s difficult to see Romney persuading registered voters that he would be much better.