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US President Barack Obama has increasingly gained in his popularity rating and leading the odds against two leading potential Republican challengers in the 2012 presidential elections.
President Barack Obama's numbers are on the rise in two important indicators of his reelection chances, according to a new national survey.

The poll indicated Obama's margins have increased against five possible Republican presidential challengers in hypothetical general election match-ups and his approval rating is up five points since mid-November.

According to the poll, Obama leads leading Republican candidate Mitt Romney 52 percent - 45 percent in a possible 2012 showdown.
Romney, who's making his second bid for the GOP nomination, held a 51 percent - 47 percent margin over the president in last month's survey. Obama also leads against other top Republican candidates, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann.

Bill Clinton and George W Bush the last two presidents who won re-election had roughly this same amount of support in December of the year before the election, but so did Bush's father in December of 1991. He ended up losing in the general election, says CNN Polling director Keating Holland.
“The White House is right now focused addressing key challenges facing the country. “Obama said
“This President's focused on the challenging economic environment, and admittedly, in focusing on that; he has to content with the challenging political environment,"White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney said.
He committed to working with Congress and doing the things he can do outside of Congress to grow the economy and help it create jobs.
I think that in these last several months that focus has been pretty clear. He is going to continue that focus. And the impact that has on polls remains to be seen. But it is his primary focus as President,
Another poll put Obama marginally ahead of Romney and Gingrich, which the Gallup said is a tie.
Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich essentially tie President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election preferences of registered voters nationwide. 50 percent of registered voters would support Obama in each hypothetical match-up, while 48 percent would give their vote to Gingrich or Romney.
Both the polls show an increase in Obama’s rating against his potential republican contenders.
I will simply say that polls go up and down. We live in a very challenging political environment and continuingly challenging economic environment.