Poll: Obama holds small lead in Wisconsin

{mosads}Obama leads 49 percent to 46 in Wisconsin. That’s tighter than the same poll released earlier this month, before Romney announced Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (R) as his running mate. Obama led that poll 50-45, which was consistent with his lead in other Badger State polls at the time.

“The two-point shift in Romney’s direction is within the margin of error for the poll but suggests Ryan’s addition to the ticket may have slightly increased Romney’s chances in Wisconsin,” director of the Marquette Law School poll Professor Charles Franklin said in a statement.

However, a survey from liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling released Tuesday showed Ryan had propelled Romney to a 48-47 lead over Obama, a 7 percentage point swing from the same poll in July.

Wisconsin is one of 12 battleground states — the others are Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire — that will be critical in determining the outcome of the 2012 election.



Wisconsin hasn’t backed a Republican for president since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

The poll of 576 likely voters was conducted between Aug. 16 and 19 and has a 4 percent margin of error.