They like him but they hate his politics

President Barack Obama hits a losing trifecta with Florida voters: They disapprove 52 - 44 percent of the job he is doing; they prefer an unnamed Republican challenger by a too-close-to- call 41 - 38 percent in the 2012 presidential election and say 51 - 42 percent that the president does not deserve a second term, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Today's numbers compare to results of a February 3 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University, when the President was almost dead even in the trifecta:

47 percent job approval, with 49 percent disapproving; 40 percent for Obama, compared to 42 percent for an unnamed GOP challenger; 45 percent saying four more years compared to 48 percent saying no.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who like Obama is on the 2012 ballot, is in better shape, with a 47 - 26 percent approval rating, a 43 - 39 percent lead over an unidentified Republican and voters saying 43 - 35 percent that he deserves another term in the Senate.

Florida voters support 51 - 44 percent a proposal before the Legislature that would require a woman seeking an abortion to first undergo an ultrasound procedure and be offered a chance to view the results. Women support the measure 53 - 43 percent, while men support it 48 - 46 percent.

"With President Barack Obama formally announcing his re-election campaign this week, one can expect that his team will be focusing on Florida, one of the nation's preeminent swing states and one that the president carried in 2008," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "He has some work to do in the Sunshine State. On job approval, re-election and the matchup against an unnamed republican he does a good deal better among women than he does among men."

"Despite questions about his policies, the president is personally popular with Floridians," said Brown. Given four choices to describe their feelings about Obama:

40 percent like him personally and like his policies; 30 percent like him personally but not his policies; 1 percent like his policies but not him; 24 percent don't like him or his policies.

Taken together, 70 percent of voters like Obama, but only 41 percent like his policies. For more of the Quinnipiac poll click on this: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1297.xml?ReleaseID=1584