CAMPAIGN 2012

Polls: Obama Gets Post-Convention Bounce

Updated: September 9, 2012 | 9:42 p.m.
September 9, 2012 | 9:38 a.m.

President Barack Obama addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Several polls now show President Obama with a national lead over Mitt Romney, indicating a boost coming out of the Democratic National Convention.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday, Obama holds a four-point advantage over his Republican rival at 47 percent, widening his lead from before the convention.

“The bump is actually happening," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark told Reuters. “I know there was some debate whether it would happen... but it's here.”

Democrats came out of their convention feeling positive after strong primetime speeches by former President Bill Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama. And despite poor jobs numbers on Friday, Clark suggests the boost could last.

“We don't have another convention now to turn our attention to, so (Obama's bounce) may maintain,” Clark continued. “How big it'll be and how long it will last remains to be seen.”

Showing his biggest lead since late April, Obama also led Romney on Sunday in Gallup’s daily tracking poll 49 percent to 44 percent—a six-point swing from before the Republican National Convention began with Romney up.

The election remains close, however, with several Democrats unwilling to call it for the president just yet.

“Well, obviously, anybody can lose or win an election,” California Gov. Jerry Brown said on CNN’s State of Union. “These things are not absolutely determined, and this is a close election, but I would say that the contrast of the difference is reasonably clear.”

The Reuters poll was conducted among 1,457 likely voters online Sept, 5 to 8, with a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.

On the first Gallup poll, the margin of error was two percentage points, and was conducted over seven days among 3,050 registered voters. The second was conducted among 1,500 adults nationwide, with a three-point margin of error.

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