No bin Laden bounce on generic ballot

President Obama did not receive a significant bump in support against a generic Republican opponent following the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

Despite a seven-point boost to a 54 percent approval rating in the latest Gallup poll, Obama leads an unnamed Republican 43-40 percent. That is virtually unchanged from April 20-22, when he and the generic Republican were tied at 41 percent (the two-point jump for Obama falls within the margin of error). 

{mosads}The poll underscores a point being made by political observers: The slaying of bin Laden, one of the world’s most wanted men since the 9/11 attacks, hardly guarantees Obama’s reelection in 2012. 

The White House has acknowledged as much. 

“Polls right now are barely worth the paper they are printed on. Nice, but not determinative,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer tweeted Wednesday in response to a Twitter user who commented that Obama still has work to do despite his rising approval rating. 

Gallup said the divide on Obama’s poll numbers could be because the president’s climbing approval rating is being driven by Republicans, who still would vote against Obama next year: Republicans’ approval of the president jumped 11 points between late April and now, the highest among any political group. 

Gallup surveyed 1,018 adults between May 5-8. The margin of error is four percentage points.