Poll: Obama has lead over Romney

WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- President Obama is beginning his 2012 re-election campaign with a six-point lead over his presumed challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, a poll indicates.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows voters prefer Obama over Romney 49 percent to 43 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The lead is just within the margin of error.

Obama leads Romney by wide margins in the areas of "caring about average people" and "looking out for the middle class," the poll found.

More than half of Americans said the president was better at being "easy going and likable" compared to just 18 percent for Romney.

Romney, on the other hand, beat Obama by a six-point margin when it came to good ideas for improving the economy.

The public also gave Romney higher marks over the president for the ability to change the political tone in Washington.

Obama still faces serious headwinds despite an approval rating of 49 percent, the poll found. More than half of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy while 59 percent think the country is on the wrong track.

The telephone poll of 1,000 respondents was conducted April 13-17. It carries of margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.