PPP: Obama struggling in Ohio

PPP reports:

If Barack Obama had to stand for reelection today he would likely lose Ohio...as long as the Republicans nominate Mitt Romney.

Obama's approval rating in the state is only 43%, with 52% of voters disapproving of him. He's very unpopular with independents at 39/57, and even with Democrats his approval has dropped to a worrisome low of 73%. He's in particularly bad shape with white voters (37/57) and men (38/58).

A head to head between Obama and Romney would be a tie at this point, with each candidate getting 46%. Those numbers are worse for Obama than they appear to be on the surface though- just 18% of the undecided voters approve of the job he's doing. When those folks make up their minds they're not very likely to end up in Obama's camp. Romney has an 11 point advantage with independents and pulls 12% of the Democratic vote while losing only 4% of Republicans to Obama.

Also within striking range of Obama is Herman Cain, who trails the President only 48/45. Cain is the only one of the Republicans with a positive favorability rating in Ohio, at 41/37. Independents see him favorably by a 50/23 margin and 18% of Democrats with a positive opinion of him is higher than for any of the other GOP candidates. Cain's long term viability for the Republican nomination still seems questionable despite his current poll standing, but these numbers suggest that he might actually be a viable general election candidate.

Just a reminder, this is PPP saying this not a Republican pollster.