Poll: Obama leads Romney in NH, race tight in NC and NV
A photo composite of US President Barack Obama (L) and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
A new crop of swing-state polls continue to show an advantage for President Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, but the presidential race remains tight in both North Carolina and Nevada.
Obama has pulled ahead of his Republican challenger by seven points in New Hampshire, well outside of the poll's 3 percent margin of error, reports NBC News.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Thursday showed Obama leading Romney 51 percent to 44 percent among likely voters.
But things are less rosy for the President in North Carolina and Nevada, both states he wrestled away from Republicans in 2008.
Obama is ahead of Romney by two points in each state, which is within the margin of error — meaning whether Obama is truly "leading" those states is still in question.
Obama had 49 percent to Romney's 47 percent in Nevada, and 48 percent to Romney's 46 percent in North Carolina, reports CNN.
The tight races in North Carolina and Nevada show that the President's ground game might not be as strong as it was in 2008.
The Washington Post reports that the new polls are slightly better for Romney than other recent polling — particularly in Nevada and North Carolina — but overall, there has not been much movement.
“New Hampshire seems to be following the similar trends we’re seeing elsewhere,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, told NBC.
New Hampshire has been a key battleground for both campaigns. Obama won the state in 2008 but Mitt Romney was hoping to pick up extra votes there because he has high name recognition.
Romney owns a home in the state, which borders Massachusetts, where he served as Governor.
Both campaigns have sent their vice presidential candidates to the Granite State recently. CNN reports that Vice President Joe Biden campaigned there Friday and Saturday, and GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan plans to visit the state this Saturday.
The National Journal reports that it is independents in New Hampshire who likely give the edge to Obama, with their numbers leaning in favor of the president 53 percent to 40 percent, as well as female voters.
Self-identified independents make up nearly half of the state's electorate, according to the Journal, while Democrats and Republicans evenly split the other half.