Politico:

According to the polls – which were conducted from Monday through Wednesday, encompassing Tuesday’s presidential debate in New York and after – Obama receives the support of 51 percent of likely voters in Iowa to Romney’s 43 percent.

That eight-point margin is unchanged from the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll released last month (before the debate season began), when the president led his Republican opponent 50 percent to 42 percent.

And in Wisconsin, Obama is ahead by six points among likely voters, 51 percent to 45 percent, which also is virtually unchanged from last month.

CNN suspects Obama got a bump from the second debate, which he clearly won, and reports about early voting in Iowa:

The NBC/WSJ/Marist results offer a contrast to previous polls released after the first debate, which showed Romney with a bounce in several swing states.

A Marquette University Law School poll, for example, released Wednesday showed Obama ahead by only one point in Wisconsin, though the survey was conducted entirely before the second presidential debate. And in Iowa, an American Research Group survey released on Monday showed Obama and Romney tied at 48% in the Hawkeye State.

The NBC/WSJ/Marist poll shows that Obama seems to have a strong lead over Romney among early voters in Iowa. About a third of likely voters said they have already cast their votes in the state, and 67% of them said they supported Obama, while 32% said they backed Romney.


When will this election end? I want to return to my Marxist theorizing.