Poll: Romney leads on three most important issues

A new Politico/George Washington University poll of likely voters shows Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama, 50%-48%, fueled by his lead on the economy, jobs, and the deficit/government spending.

According to the poll, voters peg those three issues as the most important in deciding their vote.

Key stats:

a. Romney leads on the economy, 51%-45%. That's a jump from a 3% edge in the previous poll.

a. Obama leads on foreign policy, 51%-42%. That's notable coming into tonight's debate.

b. Romney leads on the budget and spending, 55%-40%. That's always been his strongest issue.

c. Obama leads on taxes, 49%-47%. The president has stripped the GOP of this standard advantage this year, and I explained why here.

d. Obama leads Romney on Medicare, 51%-43%. This is in line with recent polling and suggests that the battle has largely been decided here, and Obama won.

e. Obama leads on standing up for the middle class, 55%-41%. If I were the Romney team, this is the only deficit I'd really worry about.

f. Romney leads on jobs, 50%-46%.

g. Obama leads on sharing your values, 48%-46%. That's a nice lead for the president, but is usually larger. Romney's gains there have to be of concern to Obama.

h. Romney leads on leadership, 47%-46%. This one is a dramatic reversal from most of the election when Obama held a big lead on the question. There could be numerous reasons for Romney's gains, but the two that immediately pop to mind are a) now that they've stood on the same debate stage, the incumbent's natural advantage on the question is somewhat diminished and b) Libya.

i. Romney leads on "can get things done", 47%-43%. With the fiscal cliff looming, that's a key result, and Romney's newest TV ad speaks to the idea of forging bipartisan support whilst governing Massachusetts.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, here are the top issues -- according to voters -- and as you can see, Romney leads on all of them.

1. The Economy 26%

2. Jobs 17%

3. Government spending and the deficit 15%

You have to drop to the fourth most important issue to find one where Obama leads, Medicare and Social Security.

Obama needs to change perceptions on those top, three issues to win this thing, but unfortunately for him, there's only one debate left, and that's a showdown over foreign policy.