The president is starting to feel the love in New Jersey of late.

According to Fairleigh Dickinson University’s latest PublicMind poll, 51 percent of voters say they approve of the way the president is handling his job, up 5 to 6 percentage points since January.

When broken down by gender, the poll found that men, on average, actually continue to disapprove of the president, while women, on average, are quite ardent supporters. Women polled approved of the president by a margin of 24 percent points (58 percent approve vs. 34 percent disapprove).

Part of that might be accountable to stances taken by Republican candidates on the campaign trail that have been seen by some as "anti-female."

“National Republicans are a turnoff to many women voters recently,” said Peter Woolley, director of the FDU poll. “Rick Santorum and Rush Limbaugh have combined to alarm, if not completely alienate, pro-choice women.”

When the president is pitted against the two leading Republican candidates for New Jersey voters, Obama handily beats each of them. Against Mitt Romney, Obama coasts 50 percent to 37 percent, and against Rick Santorum, Obama’s margin widens to 54 percent to 33 percent.

This is despite the fact that a majority -- 53 percent -- of New Jersey voters polled believe the nation is headed the wrong way. Thirty-seven percent said they thought the country was going in the right direction.

In 2008, Obama bested John McCain by a 15.5 percent margin in New Jersey.

In Fair Lawn that year, Obama received 53.0 percent of the vote (8,200 votes), compared to the 45.8 percent (7,087 votes) McCain received, with 80.4 percent of registered voters participating.