Poll: Obama has 15-point lead over Romney in New Hampshire

{mosads}A majority of likely New Hampshire voters have a favorable opinion on Obama, according to the poll. The poll found 56 percent of likely voters in the state have a favorable opinion of Obama while 40 percent have an unfavorable opinion.

The poll also found more New Hampshire voters have an unfavorable view of Romney than they do a favorable view. Thirty-nine percent said they have a favorable opinion of Romney while 54 percent said they have a unfavorable opinion of him.

On running mates, the poll had good news for the Obama-Biden ticket as well. Almost half (49 percent) of New Hampshire voters surveyed said they have a favorable view of Vice President Joe Biden while 40 have an unfavorable view. For Paul Ryan, Romney’s running mate, 34 said they have a favorable view of him while 47 percent said they have an unfavorable view.

The poll’s findings come just ahead of the first general election presidential debate on Wednesday in Denver, Colo. University of New Hampshire pollster Andy Smith said that Romney could benefit from a strong performance in the debate.

“That’s the one advantage to have when you are running against a president,” Smith said. “Voters tend to vote retrospectively, and if you can remind them of the bad things that happened under a president, they are more likely to believe those things.”

The poll was conducted Sept. 27 through Sept. 30 by WMUR and the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage.