From Talking Points Memo
After a brutal week and a half in the national polls that showed President Obama losing almost all of his leads following his poor debate performance, the president may be starting to bounce back:
One poll, from ABC News and the Washington Post, shows Obama leading Romney 49 percent to 46 percent, little change from their survey in late September that showed Obama up by 2 points. Thirty-seven percent of likely voters have a more favorable view of Romney following his performance in the first debate in Denver, compared with a mere 8 percent who now have a more positive impression of the president. But 72 percent said the debate did not change how they view Obama, and 47 percent indicated that their views of Romney were unchanged.
Likely voters give Obama the edge – by varying margins – on a slew of policy areas: the economy, international affairs, taxes, health care and Medicare. As has been shown by a number of national polls, Romney’s only advantage over the president is with the federal budget deficit. By a 9-point margin, likely voters prefer Obama over Romney to handle an unexpected major crisis.
Fifty-five percent of likely voters said they consider Obama honest and trustworthy, while 41 percent said he is not. Views of Romney on that front are sharply polarized: 47 percent of likely voters said the Republican nominee is honest and trustworthy, compared with 47 percent who said he is not.
The president’s lead among likely voters in Monday’s other national survey, the Politico/George Washington University Battleground Poll, is even smaller, 49 percent to 48 percent. That’s identical to the Politico/GWU poll released last week. But while Obama holds a slim lead nationally, Romney claims a small edge across 10 swing states. Among likely voters in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin, Romney leads Obama by 2 points.
Read the whole story at Talking Points Memo.