"The Likability Gap"

Gallup reports:

Favorable ratings reflect Americans' broad reactions to a candidate, encompassing a variety of factors about the candidate as a person and leader. However, a separate Gallup measure of Romney and Obama in June on specific characteristics also found Romney lagging significantly in terms of being "likable." Eight in 10 Americans at the time, 81%, said this trait applies to Obama, compared with 64% who said it applies to Romney. And when asked in the latest poll to say which of the two candidates is more likable, Americans chose Obama over Romney by 54% to 31%. That 23-point deficit, wide as it is, is actually an improvement for Romney compared with earlier in the year.

Chris Cillizza writes of a new Washington Post/ ABC News survey:

In a poll filled with close findings between Romney and Obama, one place where the race isn’t close at all is on the question of likability. Sixty-one percent of registered voters said Obama is the more “likable” and “friendly” person, while just 27 percent said that of Romney. We have long held that presidential elections are less about issues than they are about how people perceive the two candidates in terms of who better understands their hopes and anxieties. If that holds, then this likability gap is big news indeed for Obama. But there’s also the possibility that the economy is such a big issue for voters that it blots out the traditional ways we think about presidential races.

Reuters reports on a Reuters/Ipsos poll:

Other polls have shown Obama and Romney neck-and-neck and the Republican's campaign officials believe they are in good position to upset the Democrat in November given that Romney has withstood a barrage of negative attacks from Obama over the summer.

The poll found that Obama far outstrips Romney on who is more eloquent by 51 percent to 21 percent. Obama also gets higher likability numbers, with 54 percent to 26 percent finding him more likeable.