Since the United States continues to use the practice of an electoral college to decide the presidency this 2012 Presidential election is going to boil down to which candidate can secure the all important 2012 swing state wins. Since these states will be continually scrutinized over the upcoming months and weeks the economy of these individual swing states will be analyzed to no end. The state of the economy is the largest issue concerning Americans for the 2012 general election followed closely by unemployment.
When looking at these two key issues it would seem that Obama has the upper hand. In 5 essential battleground states unemployment is below the national average of 8.2. Some states including New Hampshire, Iowa, and Virginia have unemployment rates at just around 5%. While Ohio one of the most prized swing state “gets” has an unemployment of 7.4%. Three of these swing states have average unemployment ratings above the national average, but this may actually play into Obama’s favorability as well. This is because despite their unemployment being more elevated than the national average their steep decline has resulted in a continuing downward trend.
Individual’s polled on overall economic approval however are split between who would do a better job curing the nation’s economic woes. Keeping up with the swing state’s recovering economies or economic back slides will be crucial to how the rest of the election is played by Republicans and Democrats alike.
