With only a handful of weeks left before the November elections, President Obama leads Mitt Romney by 8 points.  This from a Washington Post poll conducted last week.  The polls show that among likely voters Obama has 52% compared to Romney’s 44%.  The poll shows that among all registered voters the president leads 50% to 43%. 

Virginia is being touted as one of the battleground states for this presidential election.  Due to Virginia’s big defense sector, the recession did not hit as hard as it did in other states.  This helps the president.  Fifty-three percent of voters say that they approve of the job the president is doing.  A majority of Virginia voters also say that the president understands America’s economic problems better than Romney.

The president has strong support from women.  He leads Romney 58% to 39%.  Men are more divided with 50% for Romney and 44% for Obama.  The president leads Romney on social issues, such as abortion and same-sex marriage, but those issues take a back seat in Virginia to more pressing issues such as the economy and health care.

More than $60 million has been spent in Virginia between the two campaigns and outside groups on more than 11,000 ads in Virginia.  Both candidates and their wives have visited Virginia on more than 40 occasions.