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Obama leads Romney in Florida, Ohio and Virginia

President Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney in the key battleground states of Florida, Ohio and Virginia, according to a new poll released Thursday.

The NBC-Marist poll found the president leading Romney by six points in Ohio (48 percent to 42 percent) and four points in both Virginia and Florida (48 percent to 44 percent) among registered voters.

While all three states are considered pure tossups in the fall, Obama has tended to show more strength in Ohio and Virginia, while Romney has exhibited more strength in Florida.

Obama’s approval rating stood at 48 percent in Florida and 49 percent in Virginia and Ohio. A strong majority in all three states believed the president inherited a bad economy from his predecessor.

Respondents in the states polled thought Obama could do a better job of handling the nation’s economy, but by a very slim margin. On foreign policy, he outperformed Romney by double digits in Ohio and Virginia and by nine points in Florida.

However, when it came to handling the national debt, Romney was favored by 10 points in Ohio and Virginia and eight points in Florida.

There were also warning signs for the president as a majority of voters — 55 percent in Ohio, 57 percent in Florida and 58 percent in Virginia — all said they believed the country was not headed in the right direction.