WASHINGTON (AP) — Just about everybody agrees Washington is a gridlocked mess. But who's the man to fix it? After two years of brawling and brinkmanship between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans, more voters trust Mitt Romney to break the stalemate.

Romney's message — a vote for Obama is a vote for more gridlock — seems to be getting through. An Associated Press-GfK poll shows that almost half of likely voters — some 47 percent — think the Republican challenger would be better at ending the logjam Thirty-seven percent say Obama would.

Romney is pushing that advantage. He increasingly portrays himself as a work-with-everybody pragmatist. Obama counters by predicting that Republican lawmakers who now are focused on opposing his re-election will become more cooperative once he wins a second term.