Nearly 60 percent of Americans expect President Obama to defeat Mitt Romney in this year’s presidential election, according to a poll released Monday.
The USA Today/Gallup poll of about 1,000 adults found that 58 percent expect Mr. Obama to be reelected while just 36 percent think he will lose to Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The 22-point gap in the poll, which asked respondents to answer objectively and independently from their own preferences, is slightly larger than the 20-point margin in the president’s favor from an identical survey taken in May.
The new poll also showed that 86 percent of Mr. Obama’s supporters expect him to win compared to 9 percent who expect him to lose, while just 65 percent of Mr. Romney’s supporters think he will win and 28 percent think he will lose.
Pollsters said voter expectations have generally been a solid indicator of election results, but that they are often skewed toward incumbents because they typically win reelection.
