Obama inches ahead in key voter polls

As the clock ticks down to Election Day and the number of undecided voters shrinks, President Obama is gaining over Mitt Romney in key polls. But overall, the race remains way too close to call.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / September 16, 2012

President Barack Obama waves after speaking at a campaign rally in Golden, Colo. Sept. 13.

Ed Andrieski/AP

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It?s been a rough week for both President Obama and Mitt Romney,

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Mr. Obama has had to deal with anti-US protests around the Muslim world, including the murder of American diplomats in Libya. Mr. Romney took flak from Republicans as well as Democrats for what critics said were intemperate remarks about the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, which seemed obviously aimed to gain political advantage at a time when national unity was called for.

Obama has more responsibility than his challenger here ? both for what happened in Libya and for how to respond. It could be a defining moment for his re-election bid.

But a snapshot of where things stand in the presidential campaign 51 days before the election should bring some cheer to the White House, at least according to the most recent polls.

Are you more (or less) conservative than Mitt Romney? Take our quiz!

As the Monitor?s Liz Marlantes reported Friday, Obama?s post-convention bounce apparently endures, most significantly in key battleground states.

According to a new set of?NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls, Obama is now leading?Romney by 7 points in?Ohio?and 5 points in?Florida?and Virginia, and the RealClearPolitics polling average right now has Obama up by 4.2 percentage points in Ohio, 1.3 points in Florida, and 0.4 points in?Virginia.

A Philadelphia Inquirer poll released Saturday has Obama leading Romney in Pennsylvania, 50 percent to 39 percent, reports Politico.

?Pennsylvania Democrats are more consolidated behind Obama, with 77 percent in favor of Obama and 13 percent in favor of Romney, while Republicans are 18 percent in favor of Obama and 71 percent in favor of Romney,? according to the poll press release. ?Following the conventions, Obama?s favorability rating has increased by 3 points, while his unfavorable rating has decreased by 6 points. Opinions of Romney have improved slightly following the conventions, but he still has a net negative personal popularity rating among voters in state, with 46 percent favorable/48 percent unfavorable rating.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/OskNIZmQM3o/Obama-inches-ahead-in-key-voter-polls

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