US presidential race: Obama gains ground over Romney

Following two consecutive strong performances in the last two presidential debates against his Republican rival Mitt Romney, US President Barack Obama has started gaining ground, according to latest polls.

Obama's national lead is now 2.1 point, RealClearPolitics said based on the average of all the recent national polls; the latest one being that of the Time magazine, according to which the US President now leads over Romney by five points in the most important battle ground state of Ohio.

In the rolling average daily tracking polls of Gallup, Romney's lead has further narrowed. Romney now leads 50 per cent over Obama's 47; reflecting the ground that the US President has gained after the last two presidential debates which was won by him.

Since October 14, Romney had been leading the Gallup Poll between five and seven points. According to Gallup, Obama has also regained the lead in the poll among registered voters, 48 to 47 over Romney; which is also for the first time since October 14.

The series of recent polls, both national and regional, suggest that both Obama and Romney are engaged in a strikingly close race and both the campaign exuded confidence that they are headed in the right direction.

According to the Washington Post, Obama scored a modest win in the third presidential debate but Romney who moved the needle among likely voters -- including independents -- with his debate performances. As many as 49 per cent of likely voters nationally are backing Romney, while 48 per cent are supporting Obama, the daily said on Wednesday.

"But as was the case after the first and second debates, more voters say they have better, not worse, opinions of the former Massachusetts governor when assessing the three debates," it said.

"For many voters, the only thing they heard about Romney between the primaries and convention was a very ugly Obama ad campaign, especially in swing states," Pew Research associate director Michael Dimock told The Hill in an interview.

"The first debate was a big factor. A lot of people came into that debate with a negative impression of him and he not only presented himself as a competent, reasonable and smart person in his demeanour, but he represented the tone of his policies in a more moderate way," he added.