Mitt Romney sees a bump in polls following last week’s debate
Some new polls show the GOP nominee Mitt Romney gaining ground on President Obama (or taking the lead) following last week’s debate.
According to a Pew Research Center survey released Monday afternoon, 49% of likely voters say they back Romney, with 45% supporting President Barack Obama. The survey was conducted October 4-7, the four days after last Wednesday’s first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado. Romney’s four-point advantage is within the survey’s sampling error.
In Pew’s previous poll, conducted in mid-September, the president had a 51%-43% lead among likely voters.
Among registered voters, Obama and Romney were both at 46% in the Pew survey released Monday. In mid-September Obama was at 51% and Romney was at 42% among registered voters.
Meanwhile, Gallup’s latest daily tracking poll of registered voters, also released Monday afternoon, indicates the president with a 50%-45% advantage over Romney. The president’s edge is within the survey’s sampling error. The poll was conducted October 1-7, both before and after the debate.
Early Monday Gallup released a breakdown of its previous tracking poll, which was conducted September 30-October 6. The survey indicated that Obama held a 50%-45% advantage over Romney from September 30-October 2, the three days leading up to last Wednesday’s presidential debate, and that Romney and Obama were deadlocked at 47% each in the three days after the debate, from October 4-6.
“Romney clearly has gotten a boost coming out of the debate and it’s for obvious reasons,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who’s worked on several presidential and congressional campaigns and is part of National Public Radio’s bipartisan polling team.
A poll for the University of Denver of likely voters from Oct. 4-5 that gave Obama a four- point lead, 47 percent to 43 percent. Rasmussen Reports had Obama ahead, 49 percent to 48 percent, among likely voters surveyed Oct. 7.
[…] race. Romney’s performance in the candidates’ first meeting on October 3 in Denver gave him a boost in national polls, a momentum that appeared to be continuing well past the second debate which Obama likely […]