Race is virtually tied, but Obama has edge

Nov 05, 2012 - Ivan Couronne Des Moines (Iowa) |

Republican challenger Mitt Romney will make a last-minute play for Pennsylvania Sunday as he and President Barack Obama criss-cross America in a final push for votes on the penultimate day of their tense White House campaign.
The Obama camp says Mr Romney’s flirtation with the Democrat-leaning state smacks of desperation, but the Republican is hinting he has a genuine chance of poaching it from the President in Tuesday’s election.
Pennsylvania has been with Mr Obama for months, with the latest Real Clear Politics average of polls showing the incumbent up 4.1 percentage points in a state he won by over 10 per cent in 2008.
Team Romney has consistently dismissed polls as giving an incomplete picture in states like Pennsylvania, where they feel the challenger has built recent momentum. Mr Romney will also be in Ohio and Virginia on Sunday as he and Mr Obama burn up jet fuel hopping between the battleground states.
Mr Obama flew to New Hampshire to reprise a buddy act from the night before with Bill Clinton, which saw the popular former President place his economic legacy on the younger man’s shoulders.
“I have given my voice in the service of my President,” a hoarse Mr Clinton said after two dozen appearances in battleground states.
On a gruelling swing that ends in Wisconsin early on Tuesday, Mr Obama will also travel to Florida, Colorado and Ohio on Sunday. Campaign aides pointed at early voting advantages in Ohio and Florida showing Mr Obama is close to becoming only the second Democrat since World War II to win a second term.
The two candidates are effectively tied in national polls, but Mr Obama appears in a stronger position in the key battleground states, and if the polls are accurate, seems to be in position to win re-election.
The latest ABC News/Washington Post survey showed the race tied, with 48 per cent support for both among likely voters.
Opinion polls after Hurricane Sandy have shown Barack Obama blunting challenger Mitt Romney’s momentum, if not regaining some of his own.

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