Washington, Jan 31 : A majority of voters in the United States believe that President Barack Obama understands the problems of an average American citizen better than other White House hopefuls Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich do.

According to the Pew Research Center/Washington Post poll, 55 percent voters said that Obama connects with the needs of average Americans very or fairly well, while 41 percent voters said the president doesn’t understand people’s problems too well or not at all well.

The two Republican candidates, however, fare much worse, Politico reports.

According to the poll, that covered 1,006 adults, just 39 percent said former Massachusetts Governor Romney understands the problems of average Americans very or fairly well, and just 36 percent said the same for former House of Representatives speaker Gingrich.

The survey showed that 51 percent voters think Gingrich does not connect with the needs of typical Americans well, while just under half, 48 percent, belive Romney understands people’s problems not too well or not at all well.

The poll also revealed that 84 percent of Democrats said Obama does connect with the concerns of average people.