EPIC poll: Obama over Romney by 6

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - President Obama holds a 6% lead over GOP nominee Mitt Romney in a new EPIC-MRA presidential poll released Wednesday.

Obama leads Romney 48-42, with 4% backing other candidates and 6% undecided.

The poll was conducted on behalf of WOOD TV8 and our media partners. It has a 20% cell phone participation rate and a margin of error of 4%.

Among independents, Obama leads 42-31. The president also holds a lead among independent men, 39-36, with 25% undecided, and among independent women 44-27, with 28% undecided.

Respondents who said they would vote for Obama are slightly more enthusiastic about voting for him (78%) than respondents who back Romney (75%.)

Obama also leads Romney in favorability, 55-45.

When asked if the US is headed on the right track, 43% said yes, 50% no and the remaining 7% undecided  or refused to answer.

Half the respondents said the candidate's position on the auto industry loans was a deciding or important factor, while 48% said it was only a minor factor.

Obama also topped Romney in each of these areas: someone you can trust (49-38); cares about someone like me (51-37); stands up for his beliefs (43-37); more likely to seek bipartisan solutions (46-40) and is a stronger leader (48-43.)

On all but three issues, Obama scored higher in this poll than Romney. Romney polled higher on handling the economy and creating jobs (46-44), in controlling the price of gasoline (36-29) and in changing and reforming government (43-40.) On all other issues -- terrorism and homeland security, the war in Afghanistan, protecting the environment, protecting Social Security and Medicare, making affordable health insurance available to everyone, improving education, dealing with federal taxes, dealing with the federal budget deficit and immigration -- Obama polled higher.

And when asked who they think will win the presidential election, 50% said Barack Obama, 34% said Mitt Romney and 16% were undecided.

The race for the US Senate continues to trend heavily for incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow. She holds a 54-33 lead over Republican nominee Pete Hoekstra, with 9% undecided.

Respondents were more pro-choice than pro-life (52-40), identified themselves as 43% Democrat, 37% Republican and 20% independent, and said they were more conservative (38%) than moderate (34%) or liberal (21%.)