Well if there was any doubt about Mitt Romney’s performance during the first presidential debate that has been put to rest with a slew of post-debate polls released this week.
Gallup has Mitt Romney tied with President Barack Obama after being down by 5 points last week.
Also they asked who likely voters thought did better during last week’s debate 49% of Democrats said that they thought Romney did better compared to 39% who said President Obama. Over all 72% of those polled thought Romney won compared to 20% who said Obama.
Pew Research Center has Romney leading tied with Obama at 46% among registered voters. This is up from trailing 9 points. Among likely voters Romney now leads President Obama 49% to 45% after trailing by 7% in September.
A Politico/George Washington University Battleground poll shows President Obama with a 1% lead over Romney – 49% to 48%. However they show an enthusiasm gap between the candidates:
Only 73 percent who support Obama say they are “extremely likely” to vote, compared to 86 percent who back Romney. Likewise, 84 percent of Republicans say they are extremely likely to vote, compared to 76 percent of Democrats.
Among those extremely likely to vote, Romney actually leads Obama 52 percent to 46 percent. That’s up from a 2-point lead last week. Obama led 50 percent to 47 percent.
I have to wonder how this poll is weighted, however, because Politico reports that Romney leads among independents by 16% – 51% to 36%. How he can still be behind Obama with this kind of a lead is beyond me. They explain it because of the monolithic support of minority Democrats. I still don’t buy it.
Not surprisingly Romney leads 2 to 1 over Obama (66% to 26%) among members of our Armed Forces according to a Military Times poll. Today things are looking bright in Boston, in Chicago, not so much.