Single women put Obama on top in new poll

President Barack Obama waves as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday. 

If President Barack Obama wins a second term, he may have to thank all the single ladies: A new poll out Wednesday shows Obama crushing Mitt Romney among unmarried women by a lopsided 60 percent-31 percent margin. Overall, though, the Quinnipiac University survey found the incumbent barely edges out the Republican standard-bearer 46 percent-43 percent.

Romney enjoys what Quinnipiac called a "yawning marriage gap"—he clobbers Obama among voters who put a ring on it by 51 percent-38 percent. The Democrat beats his rival 54 percent-34 percent overall among the unmarried.

In 2008, Republican Sen. John McCain beat Obama 52 percent-47 percent among married voters, according to exit polls, while the Democrat thumped him 65 percent-33 percent among unmarried people. That suggests Obama has lost ground among married voters and unmarried voters alike. A drop would hardly be a surprise: Americans are unhappy about the sour economy three and a half years after the president took office vowing to fix it.

The Quinnipiac survey found Romney up 54 percent-35 percent among married men and 49 percent-42 percent among married women. Obama led 47 percent-38 percent among single men and 60 percent-31 percent among single women.Among the other findings, the poll showed Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts scoring better than Obama on job approval/disapproval—46 percent-34 percent for Roberts, and 45 percent-49 percent for Obama.

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute assistant director Peter Brown said in a statement about the poll that while the gender gap grabs headlines, "the marriage gap is actually larger and more telling."

"The marriage gap may be related to the different priorities and economic situations of married and single people," said Brown. "Married people are more likely to be older, more financially secure and more socially conservative than unmarried voters. The married column includes more Republicans and more white voters."

"Married voters are more likely to focus on the economy and health care, while single voters are more focused on issues such as gay rights and reproductive issues," Brown said.

The survey found that voters disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy by a 55 percent-40 percent margin. But they don't seem particularly enthused about their choices in November, dividing 45 percent-46 percent on whether Obama or Romney would do a better job.

The poll queried 2,722 registered voters the first week of July. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.