Poll: Romney, Palin See Boost; Obama Vulnerable

Marking his teeter-totter position, Obama gets precisely split decisions, 49-49 percent, on two personal attributes, understanding the problems of "people like you" and sharing "your values." He does better, though, on one other -- 55 percent rate him a strong leader.

But it's the economy that drives Obama's fortunes. Among the nearly six in 10 Americans who think economic recovery has not yet begun, 69 percent disapprove of the president's job performance overall and 64 percent say they won't even consider voting for him in 2012. Romney leads him in this group by 63-29 percent.

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Ultimately, 53 percent overall say they'd at least consider voting for Obama for re-election next year, vs. 45 percent who flatly rule him out (among registered voters, 47 percent). That leaves just enough room for Obama to gain re-election -- but with precious little margin for error. And if the economy worsens still, it'll be all the more opportunity for his ultimate challenger.

Methodology -- This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone June 2-5, 2011, among a random national sample of 1,002 adults, including landline and cell-phone-only respondents. Results for the full sample have a 3.5-point error margin. Click here for a detailed description of sampling error. This survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y, with sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, Pa.

ABC News polls can be found at ABCNEWS.com at http://abcnews.com/pollingunit