President Barack Obama | Credit: Matt Ortega - Flickr

A poll from Quinnipiac University released on Thursday found that President Barack Obama is upside down in Florida, which remains one of the crucial contests of the 2012 general election.

The poll of Florida voters was part of Quinnipiac’s look at swing states, which also included Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"Of these three swing states President Obama carried in 2008, Florida was the biggest surprise and had the closest margin," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Florida is shaping up to be the closest swing state again in 2012, and it's a fair bet that a year from now it will be the toughest of the ‘Big Three’ for Obama to carry."

The poll found that a majority of voters in the Sunshine State disapprove of Obama’s performance in the White House and do not want to see him win a second term in 2012. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed disapprove of the job Obama has done, while 41 percent approve of it. Forty-three percent of the Floridians polled think Obama deserves another term while 51 percent say the president does not. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed believe the economy is the most important issue of the election.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, one of the leading contenders for the Republican nomination, beats Obama in the Sunshine State 45 percent to 42 percent. Obama leads three of the other Republican hopefuls. The president beats former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 45 percent to 42 percent. Obama leads businessman Herman Cain, 45 percent to 41 percent. When matched against Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, Obama does the best, beating him 46 percent to 40 percent.

Brown added that Republicans could do even better in Florida if they added a favorite son from the Sunshine State to the ticket.

"If speculation that Senator Marco Rubio of Florida could be the GOP's vice presidential nominee proves correct, that would make the Sunshine State even a tougher sale for the president," said Brown.

Among the registered Republicans surveyed, Cain leads the pack of GOP hopefuls in the Sunshine State with 27 percent, followed by Romney with 21 percent. Gingrich takes third with 17 percent. Perry is a distant fourth with 5 percent, followed by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota with 4 percent and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas with 3 percent. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania trail with 1 percent each.

The poll of 1,185 Florida voters was taken Oct. 31-Nov. 7 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percent. This incudes a sample of 513 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percent.

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.