A conservative university professor and political scientist says American voters appear more interested in President Barack Obama's likeability than his negative performances, and that is helping him in the polls.
Coming out the Democratic National Convention, the president received quite a boost in approval, and a recent RealClearPolitics compilation of polls shows him with a two-point lead over challenger Mitt Romney. And in the electoral map, Obama leads 221-191, with 126 votes considered up for grabs.
But Dr. Charles W. Dunn, distinguished professor of government at Regent University's School of Government, says that Obama has one thing going against him.
"History says that no president has won re-election with an unemployment rate above 7.2 percent at this stage," he tells OneNewsNow. "So from that standpoint it is good for Romney and Ryan."
But Dunn says voters appear inclined to vote for Obama because they like him.
"In so far as his performance, people don't tend to rate him so highly," he notes. "But they tend to like him. So as long as people tend to like him, they tend to be more forgiving with regard to his negative performance in some key areas."
Dunn says the Romney camp has failed to convince voters that they have to seriously look at the president's performance, so he is being given the benefit of the doubt in many cases.