‘Romney a notch above Obama ahead of debate’

Prior to that debate Romney averaged less than a one-point lead over Obama among likely voters, Gallup said.

Washington: About half of all likely voters now prefer Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, while as less than half would re-elect the incumbent US President Barack Obama, a latest polls show. "While Romney`s four-percentage-point advantage is not statistically significant, he has consistently edged ahead of Obama each of the past several days in Gallup`s seven-day rolling averages conducted entirely after the October 3 presidential debate," the Gallup said releasing the details of its latest poll yesterday.

Prior to that debate -- regarded as a decisive Romney win by political experts and Americans who watched it -- Romney averaged less than a one-point lead over Obama among likely voters, it said. The latest result, from October 9-15, is based on 2,723 likely voters drawn from more than 3,100 registered voters. "With three weeks to go in the campaign, Obama appears to be losing momentum, and now trails Romney by four percentage points among likely voters," Gallup said hours before the second of the three presidential debates in New York. According to Gallup, Romney`s four-point edge over Obama in likely voters` preferences for President contrasts with Obama`s seven-point win over McCain in the 2008 election, it said. RealClearPolitics, which keeps tracks of all major national polls, said yesterday that both Obama and Romney are in a virtual tie, with the latter leading by a mere 0.4 points in an verage of all the major national polls. PTI