According to a USA Today/Gallup Poll, most Americans say they are no better off today than when President Barack Obama first took office. If he wins the election, he will be the first incumbent with this distinction, to be re-elected in at least a generation.
Locals are still pretty split on who they will vote for. But despite this latest poll, the President still leads Mitt Romney in battleground states by three points.
"Now you have not an unpopular incumbent but not popular," Erik Herzik said. "You have a Republican plan that's kind of 'Hey, let's go back and do it again.'"
Herzik is a Professor of Political Science with the University of Nevada. He says when it comes to the economy, there is still no clear-cut front runner for the presidential race.
And locals we talked to today agree, it's a tight race.
"I am in much better position now than I was four years ago," Don Ellis said. "I own a landscaping company and we've experienced our best year in eight years."
"I run a nonprofit, which is specifically not doing as well as it was four years ago," Dave Archer said. "I don't think President Obama has done as much as he could to help both small businesses and nonprofits and the economy, in general."
While some people say the recovery is a long term project that needs more time, others point to the 8.3% unemployment rate as a reason why four years is long enough.
"What has he done? Four to five trillion dollars in debt, just since he's been there," Joann Klingaman said. "$16 trillion, overall, and I haven't heard what he's going to do for the next four years."
"The mess that we were in four years ago, I knew it would take longer than one term to remedy," Kana Grant said. "So, I feel like we're heading in the right direction."
"An incumbent has an advantage, so he's there," Bill Fairbanks said. "He's a known quantity. Mr. Romney is not a known quantity."
Political experts say part of the reason the President still leads in many polls is not just based on the economy, but how well he relates to people.
"His poll numbers, for example, job performance hovers around 50 percent but his likeability remains much higher," Herzik said.
With just over two months left until election day, Herzik says people are becoming more entrenched in where they stand, politically. He says this could be like the 2004 election and be largely decided by how many base supporters find their way to the polls.
To read the poll for yourself, go to http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-08-20/swing-states-poll-obama-romney/57158152/1
Written by Paul Nelson
