Polls

Rasmussen: Obama pulls even with Romney nationally

by Jonathan Easley - 11/02/12 4:38 PM ET

President Obama has pulled into a tie with Mitt Romney nationally in the Rasmussen daily tracking survey.

Both Obama and Romney take 48 percent in the survey. Romney led the president throughout most of October, and less than two weeks ago extended his lead in the survey to 6 points, 50 to 44 over Obama.

{mosads}Rasmussen is not the only poll to show the president making incremental gains on Romney nationally.

Obama has pulled narrowly ahead of Romney in the closely watched RealClearPolitics average of national polls. Obama has 47.5 percent support in the average, over Romney at 47.2.

The latest averages reflect a trend showing a gradual tightening of the race in the campaign’s closing days.

Romney had gained a small national lead in the RCP poll average on the strength of his victory in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3 in Denver. But over the last three weeks, the national race has stabilized, with Romney maintaining about a 1-point lead over the president.

However, a handful of recent national polls have shown movement toward Obama — now reflected in the near deadlock between Obama and his GOP challenger.

According to a Purple Strategies poll released Friday, Obama edges Romney 47 to 46 nationally, with the candidates splitting the independent vote.

And a Fox News poll released late Wednesday showed the candidates tied with 47 percent support each. The same poll from mid-October showed Romney with a 1-point lead. A Pew Research survey released this week also showed the candidates with 47 percent apiece. In the previous Pew poll, Romney had opened up a 4-point lead over the president.

Poll watchers are also closely monitoring the handful of battleground states that will determine who wins the Electoral College. The Purple Strategies poll shows Obama narrowly ahead of Romney in these states, 48 to 46.

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“But with an incumbent holding only 47 to 48 percent of the vote across these key electorates, either candidate can still win,” the firm wrote in its analysis. Obama has a slightly underwater job approval in the swing states, the poll found, while Romney’s favorability rating is slightly underwater in the battlegrounds.

According to the RCP averages of the swing states, Obama has small leads in Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire and Iowa, while Romney has small leads in Florida and North Carolina.

In Colorado and Virginia, the candidates are separated by less than 1 point in the average of polls.

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