Polls favoring Obama with seven weeks to go

ORLANDO, Fla. – Several recent national polls show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney losing to President Barack Obama, if the election were held on the day respondents were polled.

Pew Research Center shows Obama with an eight-point lead, 51 to 43 percent. Since 1988, no candidate with the lead in the Pew poll in September has gone on to lose the popular vote. (Al Gore held a five-point lead at this time and won the popular vote, but lost the electoral college to George W. Bush.)

The Pew poll (http://www.people-press.org/2012/09/19/obama-ahead-with-stronger-support-better-image-and-lead-on-most-issues/) of 2,424 registered voters was taken September 12-16.

It comes just after a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll gives Obama a five-point lead, 50 percent to 45 percent for Romney. It also was taken September 12-16, and reached 900 registered voters. (http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/A_Politics/_Today_Stories_Teases/September_WSJ_NBC_Poll.pdf)

Other daily tracking polls, though, show a tighter race. The Gallup daily tracking poll, which gives a seven-day average, shows Obama with only a one-point lead, 47 to 46 percent. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/150743/Obama-Romney.aspx)

And the Rasmussen daily tracking poll gives Romney a one-point lead, 47 to 46 percent. (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll)