Even as Democrats await fresh polling data to gauge the impact of their candidate's successful showing at the second presidential debate (at least as far as they are concerned), they have had to grapple with the troubling news that the Republicans' Mitt Romney has actually been gaining strength as of late. A new Gallup poll among likely voters has Romney with a 51 percent to 45% lead over the incumbent, President Barack Obama. These are the Republican nominee's best poll numbers to date. Even among registered voters Romney beats Obama, albeit barely, 48% to 46%. Both campaigns can be satisfied: Romney has defied the pundits' doom and gloom and has actually pulled ahead in the polls, all the while looking presidential. He has even managed to curry favor among women, who carried Obama over the top in 2008. As for Obama, despite falling behind in the national polls, he still commands a lead in the battleground states, where he has been shedding support. Obama has many reasons to remain hopeful even if his first term has so far been far from successful; notwithstanding his disappointing record, his likeability numbers still run high and the American electorate tends to give incumbent presidents a second chance. Swing states are still front and center in this campaign. Republicans are highly optimistic they can win Virginia, Florida and North Carolina; Romney is also gaining ground in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Iowa, Colorado and the all-important Ohio are still a toss-up. In 2008 Obama won by a landslide. But data compiled by Gallup shows he has lost support among many constituents: southerners, those in the 30-49 age bracket, college-educated voters, Protestant men, Catholics and white women. He has held steady among younger demographics (age 18-29), non-whites and those in the West Coast and Midwest. The only president who managed to be re-elected despite running six-points behind at this stage in the campaign was President Ronald Reagan, at least ever since Gallup began tracking elections in 1936. The way things stand right now, Romney may well find himself relocating to Washington in January for a whole host of reasons. But there is still one more debate left. And by Nov. 6 more and more polls will have emerged, too.
