Friday, October 5, 2012

Romney closes gap with Obama to 2 points after debate: 46-44 Reuters/Ipsos poll:


Romney closes gap with Obama to 2 points after debate: Reuters/Ipsos poll: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bara...
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's lead over challenger Mitt Romney has narrowed to just two percentage pointssince the Republican's strong performance in their first debate, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday.
In more bad news for Obama, one in five voters said the Democrat's performance in the contest in Denver on Wednesday made them feel more negative about him and almost a third said they felt more positive about his Republican challenger.
Romney did well, he was perceived as doing well, and we're seeing the effect of that today," said Ipsos managing director Cliff Young. "Definitely in the short-term now, he's picking up people because of his performance in the debate."
The online tracking poll conducted between Monday and Friday showed 46 percent of likely voters backed Obama, versus 44 percent for Romney.
Obama had led Romney by 6 percentage points in the poll released on Wednesday and the edge narrowed to five points - a 48-43 percent lead for Obama - in polling up to Thursday. That was the first including a day of interviews after the meeting in Denver.
It remained to be seen whether his weak performance in Denver will become a long-term problem for Obama. He has two more chances to redeem himself in debates - a second is set for October 16 and the third is on October 22.
The narrowing could just reflect the effect of a flood of coverage after Romney's impressive debate performance, Young said. "The big question is whether this is just a debate effect, or whether the race will get back to status quo," Young said.
Posted by Robby Ball at 12:39 PM