Americans prefer Barack Obama as babysitter: Poll

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Americans would prefer President Barack Obama as a babysitter for their children but rate him and his Republican rival Mitt Romney equally as hypothetical employees, according to some off-beat questions in a voter survey.

Asked which of the two men they would prefer to have as the captain if they were aboard a ship in a storm, 48 per cent of respondents in the Washington Post-ABC News poll said they would rather have Obama at the helm, compared to 44 per cent for Romney.

And when it comes to which of the two contenders would be more likely to go bungee jumping, a majority - 60 per cent - of the people questioned in the random sample of 1,252 adults said that would be Obama, compared to just 21 per cent for Romney.

The poll was conducted by phone from Oct 10 to 13. The US presidential election will be held Nov 6.

In response to the question: "If you ran a company, who would you rather have as an employee, Obama or Romney?" the two men garnered equal support of 46 per cent.

However, 56 per cent said they found Obama 'honest and trustworthy' while just 45 per cent said those terms applied to Romney.

Regardless of who they plan to vote for, 60 per cent said Obama seems the more "friendly" and "likeable" person, but his supporters are not as enthusiastic as Romney's.

Of those backing Romney, 59 per cent say they are 'very enthusiastic'.

In terms of whom they would actually vote for if the presidential election were held today, 49 per cent voiced support for Obama and 46 per cent for Romney - a statistic that confirmed trends seen in other recent polls.