CNN/ORC reports their latest poll in Battle for presidency remains close in new CNN poll showing President Obama leading 50% to Romney's 47%, which is within the 3.5% margin of error. CNN also averaged their results with those of ABC News/Washington Post, Politico/George Washington University, Fox News, and American Research Group, released in the last week putting Obama at 49% and Romney at 46% among likely voters.
Fifty-percent of likely voters questioned in the CNN survey, which was released Monday, say that if the election were held today, they would vote for the president, with 47% saying they would support Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. The president's three point margin is within the poll's sampling error.
"That's a strong suggestion that whatever bounce President Obama received from his convention has, as expected, faded away," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "That's why they call them 'bounces'."
When it comes to issues, the survey indicates that Obama and Romney are effectively tied when likely voters are asked which candidate would best handle the economy. Romney, however, appears to have an edge on the top two economic issues: unemployment and the budget deficit. Obama, by contrast, has the advantage on a variety of non-economic domestic issues such as education, Medicare and health care, and also polls strongly on taxes, traditionally a GOP issue. All of these issues will most likely be debated by the candidates Wednesday night.
CNN reports that President Obama maintains his leads in key battleground states, where the election outcome will be determined, such as 51% to 44% in OH, 50% to 45% in FL, and 49% to 45% in VA.
This brings President Obama's advantage in the RCP average in the national head-to-head down slightly to 3.5%. Surprisingly, today's Rasmussen daily tracking poll shows President Obama's national lead rising to 3%. I wonder if they are trying to set up a post-debate bounce story?
2:02 PM PT: Just as a benchmark here's a link to Nate Silver which forecasts President Obama ending up with 51.6% to Romney's 47.4%, which Nate predicts would give our President an 85.1% chance of victory and an ECV count of 320-217.6.