The Pew poll on the presidential race released Monday has many interesting findings that will be scrutinized, challenged and assessed with less than one month left in the campaign. The survey, taken after last Wednesday’s debate (good for Romney) and mostly after Friday’s jobs report (good for Obama) shows Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama 49 to 45 among likely voters. Last month, Obama led Romney by eight points among likely voters in the same poll.
It’s a dramatic turnaround and the results are sprinkled with good news for Romney in several areas. He’s improved his standing among women, his voters are more engaged, his personal favorability rating is up. Voters believe that Romney is the candidate of new ideas, he is seen as even with the incumbent president on the matter of who is a stronger leader, and he trails by only three points on the question of which candidate is most willing to work across party lines. And on the issues that voters have consistently told pollsters they care about most–jobs, the economy and deficits–Romney is leading.
