Obama’s popularity sagging in Ohio

Ohio voters aren’t that wild about President Barack Obama — 53 percent hold a negative view of the Democrat — but they like his proposal to raise taxes on the rich to help the middle class, according to a new poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University.

The poll measured attitudes in three key swing states — Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida — and found Obama’s approval rating is underwater in all three and voters want the next president to take a new path.

Sixty-one percent of Ohio voters say the next leader should change direction rather than continue Obama’s policies and 61 percent support higher taxes on the rich to help the middle class, the poll found.

While a slim majority of Florida voters support his call for free community college, voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania oppose it, pollsters found.

About 80 percent of voters in all three states are worried about Islamic extremism and the potential for a terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Swing State voters are opposed to the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act and want it amended in some way, while only about one-quarter of voters want to repeal it outright, the poll found.

Quinnipiac University conducted the poll on land lines and cell phones between Jan. 22 and Feb. 1. It surveyed 943 Ohio voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percent.

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