Americans would prefer President Barack Obama as a babysitter for their children but rate him and his Republican rival for the White House, Mitt Romney, equally as hypothetical employees, according to some offbeat questions in a voter survey published on Monday.
Asked which of the two men they would prefer to have as the captain if they were aboard a ship in a storm, 48 percent of respondents in the Washington Post-ABC News Poll said they would rather have Obama at the helm, compared to 44 percent for Romney.
And when it comes to which of the two contenders for the top US political job would be more likely to go bungee jumping, the overwhelming majority – 60 percent – of the people questioned in the random sample of 1,252 adults said that would be Obama, compared to just 21 percent for Romney.
The poll was conducted by phone from October 10 to 13 and has a margin of error of three percent. Obama and Romney are scheduled to face each other Tuesday for the second of three debates ahead of the US presidential election on November 6.
In response to the question: “If you ran a company, who would you rather have as an employee, (Obama) or (Romney)?” the two men garnered equal support of 46 percent. However 56 percent said they found Obama “honest and trustworthy” while just 45 percent said those terms applied to Romney.
Regardless of who they plan to vote for, 60 percent said Obama seems the more friendly and likeable person, but his supporters are not as enthusiastic as Romney’s. Of those backing Romney, 59 percent say they are “very enthusiastic.”
In terms of whom they would actually vote for if the presidential election were held today, 49 percent voiced support for Obama and 46 percent for Romney – a statistical dead heat that confirms trends seen in other recent polls.
