Presidential Race Tightens Up in Many of the Crucial Swing States

A new round of polls released on Thursday showed that the presidential race remains tight in many of the crucial swing states. Both President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney hold the lead in at least one of those states, but others, like Wisconsin and Colorado, remain too close to call, according to the latest Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS poll.

Obama maintains his small lead in Virginia, while Romney appears to have gained the lead in Florida, according to a Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/Miami Herald poll also released on Thursday. Other states, like Ohio, that previously looked to have a strong preference for one or the other of the candidates, appear to be back in play.

Here is some of the key information regarding the presidential polling released on Thursday.

* Obama's lead in Michigan, which in late September stood at 10 percentage points, has shrunk considerably since the first presidential debate on Oct. 3. According to an EPIC-MRA poll released on Tuesday, Obama and Romney are now separated by only three percentage points. That gap now falls within the poll's margin of error.

* The pool of undecided voters in Michigan has apparently shrunk as well. The EPIC-MRA poll reported that just 7 percent of likely voters in the state responded that they are still undecided, down from 16 percent in September.

* In Ohio, Newsmax/Zogby polling released on Friday showed that Obama is losing support among independent voters, who are predicted to be a key deciding demographic in that state. The two men are now statistically tied among independent voters in Ohio, with Obama garnering 45 percent to Romney's 44. Obama had up until recently been polling at an advantage within that voter bloc.

* The Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/Miami Herald poll found that Romney now has a seven-point lead over Obama in Florida, with 51 percent of the vote versus the president's 44 percent. This is a reversal from late September polling, which had placed Obama with a one-point lead over Romney.

* Colorado remains too close to call, according to the Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS poll, with Romney and Obama separated by just one percentage point. In Wisconsin, Obama retains a three-point lead, but that advantage is within the Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS poll's margin of error.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/presidential-race-tightens-many-crucial-swing-states-190600005.html

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