Presidential Polls 2012 By State: Race Between Obama, Romney Grows Tighter In Florida, Virginia
With just about one month to go until the country elects its next president, the race is tightening in Florida and Virginia, although President Barack Obama still holds a lead nationwide.
Florida and Virginia are poised to be key battleground states in this election, and many pundits claim Mitt Romney must win those states in order to become president.
Obama presently leads in both states, but the gap is growing more narrow as the election approaches.
In Florida, a poll conducted by NBC, The Wall Street Journal and Marist shows Obama at 47 percent, just one point ahead of Romney's 46 percent. The incumbent enjoys a slightly larger lead in a poll from Suffolk University, which puts Obama at 46 percent and Romney at 43 percent.
Obama is ahead by only two points in Virginia, according to the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, which shows the president at 48 percent and his Republican challenger at 46 percent. Another Virginia poll conducted by Roanoke College shows a much wider advantage for Obama, reporting an 8-point lead for him over Romney's 39 percent, but that poll had a large number of undecided voters, with 10 percent saying they didn't know for whom they will vote.
Nationally, Obama is currently ahead of Romney by about 3 points, according to the average of several polls analyzed by Real Clear Politics. The countrywide average puts Obama at 49.3 percent and Romney at 45.9 percent.
The polls will likely be changed by Wednesday night's first presidential debate, scheduled to take place from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.
During the debate, Obama is likely to do his best to maintain the upper hand and keep Romney on the defensive, while the GOP nominee will do his best to make up for his gaffes in previous weeks, according to Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.
"Obama's task is like being on a football team with a lead. Put in the defensive backs and don't make any mistakes," Schnur said. "Romney has to throw the ball, but it's not time yet for a Hail Mary. He has to consistently move the ball down the field."
