A just-released USA Today/Gallup Poll finds swing state voters are now split 48-48 between President Barack Obama and Republican candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — and that Obama has a four point “bounce” since the last poll in October:
Voters in swing states are evenly split between President Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney, according to a new poll from USA Today/Gallup.
The poll released late Sunday finds 48 percent of likely voters in the nation’s key battlegrounds backing Obama and 48 preferring Romney.
The numbers show a 4-point bounce for Obama from the last USA Today/Gallup Poll of Swing States in early October, taken days after a disappointing first debate for the president.
Obama also leads by 4-points among registered voters at 50 to 46, which the poll notes is the largest margin and the first time either candidate has hit 50 percent since Romney clinched the GOP nomination in the spring.
The poll shows Obama regaining a strong edge with female voters who had drifted towards Romney after the first debate, boosting the GOP challenger in national polls.
Obama now leads among women by 16 points, while Romney holds a 10-point advantage among men.
And good news for Romney:
But Romney leads among independent voters by 1-point and holds an edge on the economy, which voters say is the most important issue this election.
Voters pick Romney over Obama on who is best prepared to manage the economy by 3-percentage points and hand Romney a 10-point edge on dealing with the federal deficit.
But it’s clear that Team Obama’s early advertising defining him as someone out of touch and/or too wealthy to understand most American’s problems has worked:
But Romney has trouble convincing voters he understands their problems. Six in 10 voters say Obama understand the problems they face in their lives, with 45 percent saying the same of Romney.
This comes amid a slew of polls that suggest (which does not mean guarantee) an Obama win Tuesday:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.