US presidential poll: In a first, Mitt Romney races past BarackObama - The Times of Indiahttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/US-presidential-poll-In-a-first-Mitt-Romney-races-past-Barack-Obama/articleshow/16745700.cms
US presidential poll: In a first, Mitt Romney races past Barack Obama
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For the first time since the race to the White House began, Republican challenger Mitt Romney has powered ahead of President Barack Obama in at least one poll, conducted after the first presidential debate.
After showing Obama with an 8-point lead in September, a Pew Research Center poll released on Tuesday finds a deadlocked presidential race among registered voters, and a 4-point Romney lead (49%-45%) among those most likely to vote.
A separate Washington Times/Zogby poll shows Romney has closed a 9 percentage-point gap with Obama and is now tied with the president.
The two polls have jolted the Obama camp and the president's supporters, who knew straightaway last week that he had turned in a poor performance in the first presidential debate in Denver. But just how bad it was is becoming clear only now.
Likely voters who watched the debate overwhelmingly (65%-14%) scored it for Romney. It was even worse for the president among independent voters - only 8% said he triumphed.
The Pew survey showed that post-Debate, Romney's personal image has improved
significantly, hitting 50% among registered voters for the first time and rising five points since September. Obama's personal favourability rating has fallen from 55% to 49%. More startling for the Obama camp is that Romney is gaining ground among women, who are now evenly divided (47%-47%) compared to last month when they leaned 56%-38% in favour of Obama.
It is clear that the disastrous performance in the debate has changed the mood and tempo although how much it will alter voting intention is hard to say.
