Personal popularity

Ordinarily, such a weak economy would mean the end for an incumbent president, as Americans place responsibility for jobs growth, rightly or wrongly, squarely on the shoulders of the president.

Obama, however, remains a popular figure, and Obama brand remains in good standing with many voters, Mahaffee said.

Moreover, the GOP has no one who can match the president's star quality, and the current candidates do not seem particularly exciting to voters, he said.

While many voters nationwide oppose President Obama's new deficit reduction plan, most support raising taxes on the wealthy.

A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey released Thursday found that 37 percent of likely voters favor the deficit reduction plan proposed by the president, while 42 percent oppose it. Another 21 percent are not sure.

Still, the Republicans are still trusted more than Democrats to handle the economy, although the parties are now tied on six out of ten important issues.

The latest Rasmussen Reports survey also found that 44 percent of likely voters trust Republicans to handle the issue of the economy, while 39 percent trust Democrats. Another 17 percent are undecided.

A Gallup poll released on Tuesday found that Americans generally favor raising taxes on those earning higher incomes and eliminating tax deductions for some corporations as ways of paying for Obama's proposed jobs plan. Sixty-six percent favored increasing taxes on those earning at least 200,000 U.S. dollars, with 32 percent opposing.