Pew Center Poll Says Obama is Pulling Ahead of Romney

President Barack Obama is edging slightly ahead of Republican contender Mitt Romney as the presidential campaign winds down, according to a key poll by the Pew Research Center, which found Obama is maintaining his lead when undecided voters are taken into account.

The Center’s final pre-election survey, conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 3 among 2,709 voters, showed Obama should pull 50 percent of the national popular vote, and Romney 47 percent.

Obama’s handling of Hurricane Sandy likely contributed to his improved showing, with 69 percent of the voters approving of how he handled the emergency. Even most of Romney’s supporters, 46 percent, approved of how Obama handled the storm, as do 63 percent of swing voters.

Voter turnout may turn out to be a good thing for Romney, whose supporters are engaged in the election and more interested in election news than Obama’s, said the Pew Center.

Voters in the nine battleground states are still closely divided, with 49 percent for Obama and 47 percent for Romney.

Obama has also regained a lot of the ground he lost in the first presidential debate. And a greater percentage of Obama supporter say they’re voting for him, rather than Romney supporters, who say they’re voting for Romney to avoid voting for Obama. And the poll showed more registered voters expect Obama to win Tuesday.

Obama’s increases are up among women, older voters and political moderates, and Romney continues to lead voters age 65 and older, but political moderates are now moving to favor Obama.