Romney surges into lead - Rasmussen

Gallup still has Obama up by 5, but that's a 7 day rolling average so movement won't be expected there until next week.

But Rasmussen has a three day rolling average, and two of those days have data from after the debate. While Rasmussen will be a little more volatile, Romney has surged into the lead by 2 points according to the pollster:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 49% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns the vote from 47%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and two percent (2%) are undecided.

These results are based upon nightly interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. As a result, only about two-thirds of the interviews for today's update were conducted after the presidential debate. Sunday morning's update will be the first national polling based entirely upon post-debate interviews.

Still, the numbers reflect quite a debate bounce for Romney. Heading into Wednesday's showdown, it was the president who enjoyed a two-point advantage. Today is the first time Romney has been ahead by even a single point since mid-September. See daily tracking history. As with all bounces, it remains to be seen whether it is a temporary blip or signals a lasting change in the race.

Both men have solidified their partisan base. Romney is supported by 89% of Republicans and Obama by 88% of Democrats. Among those not affiliated with either major party, Romney leads by 16.

The generation gap remains wide. Obama leads by double digits among those under 40. Romney leads by double digits among those over 40.

Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update).

Post-debate state polls show Romney up one in Virginia,  the president up one in Ohio and Romney up two in Florida. All three remain Toss-Ups in the Rasmussen Reports Electoral College Projections. Check out our review of last week's key polls to see "What They Told Us." 

There may be a statistical glitch given the Friday night polling so it will probably be the middle of next week before we can truly gauge any debate bounce Romney might have gotten.We should also keep an eye on Gallup and Reuters-Ipsos. The rolling averages supplied by the daily tracking polls are usually a better reflection of the true state of the race than the snapshot polls put out by media outlets.

There shouldn't be any doubt anyway - the race has tightened considerably in the aftermath of the debate.

Update:

Romney is also surging in Reuters daily poll.




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