After a disappointing debate last Wednesday in Denver and with less than 30 days before the election, a new University of Denver poll has some good news for President Barack Obama in Colorado, but it's coupled with some warning signs for the president.
The new poll shows Obama holds a 4-point lead over Republican challenger among likely Colorado voters after a surprisingly strong debate performance by Romney on Oct. 3 at the University of Denver.
Although Obama still holds a lead, the survey also showed that Colorado voters have improved impressions of Romney -- 38 percent said their impression of Romney is improving. Those who watched the debate, or simply heard about the debate, said that they believe Romney won by a huge margin: 68-19.
“Two important lessons from the polls are, first, there are very few undecided voters left in Colorado, and second, Gov. Romney has improved his position to win them over in the closing days of the race,” siad Dr. Peter Hanson, the University of Denver political scientist who led the poll. “President Obama is maintaining a narrow lead in the state, but the major question is how much movement we can expect in the polls in coming weeks with not many voters left for the candidates to persuade.”
HuffPost's Pollster estimate currently tracking 33 polls shows the race tightening in Colorado with Obama leading Romney only by a little more than a percentage point, 47.6 percent to 46.5 percent in Colorado. The state is now classified as a "tossup," a recent change from the state being considered "leaning" toward Obama just in late September:
Nate Silver's political polling analysis blog FiveThirtyEight gives Obama only a 62.8 percent chance of winning in Colorado currently, but Silver's math forecasts a 69 percent chance of Obama winning in Colorado by Nov. 6.
The DU survey also found that a large majority of Colorado voters paid close attention to the debate -- 81 percent said they watched the debate, while 14 percent said they had heard about it. Nation-wide, the debate was viewed by 67.2 million people, according to Nielsen ratings.
Nationally, the race has tightened up as well. HuffPost's Pollster estimate, tracking 497 polls, shows Obama leading Romney narrowly 47.6 to 46 percent: