Poll: Americans Increasingly View Romney’s Campaign as Ineffective

A majority of Americans — to the tune of 61 percent — hold an unfavorable view of how Mitt Romney is handling his presidential campaign, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

That figure represents a 12-percentage-point increase from 49 percent in mid-July. A total of 35 percent of respondents have a favorable view of Romney’s campaign, down from 38 percent in July.

President Barack Obama’s campaign now has a 54 percent favorable rating and a 43 percent unfavorable rating, improving from 46 percent and 45 percent respectively in July.

Romney is paying the price for his comments that 47 percent of Americans pay no taxes and are dependent on the government. A 54 percent majority views the comments negatively, and only 32 percent view them positively.

Among the key independent demographic, which may decide the election outcome, 64 percent rate Romney’s campaign unfavorably, a jump from 46 percent in July. His campaign’s favorable rating now stands at 32 percent. Obama’s campaign has favorable rating of 50 percent and an unfavorable rating of 46 percent among independents.

The poll’s results didn’t change much when the sample was narrowed to registered voters from all adults. The survey’s margin of error is 4 percentage points.