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PPP noted that Obama led Romney on each night following Tuesday's town hall debate. The PollTracker Average also shows Obama moving ahead to claim a 1-point lead.

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whether Obama leads or Romney is gaining traction will depend on which polling entity is supplying your numbers.

Presidential polls are only one (very stark) example of our currently divided media, with outlets presenting a narrative based on their party of preference. Earlier on in the race, when polls showed a clear Obama lead, many conservative outlets outright rejected the polls, saying that “skewed polling” by a “liberal media” that was “in the tank for Obama” had sullied the data.

As of today (October 19), New York Times polling blog FiveThirtyEight is forecasting a still solid lead for President Obama over Mitt Romney, projecting that the incumbent candidate will earn 291.6 electoral votes to Romney’s predicted 246.4. Silver pegs Obama at a 70.4 percent chance of winning over Romney’s projected chance of 29.6 percent, in line with projections from other major polling outlets predicting an Obama win in November.Lots more at http://www.inquisitr.com/368997/presidential-polls-show-gallup-against
-the-world-nate-silver-observes-romney-win-unlikely/]
As we all know, at this point "nationwide" means next to nothing, it's the sswing states that will decide the election. With regard to those,

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Within swing states, the two new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls show Obama leading by comfortable margins -- 8 percentage points in Iowa (51 to 43 percent) and 6 points in Wisconsin (51 to 45 percent). Both states are critical for Obama given the close contest nationwide and narrow Romney leads in states like Florida and North Carolina.

Eight other new polls released on Thursday from seven battleground states found more of a mix of results. Except for a Rasmussen Reports automated survey in North Carolina and a Republican-sponsored poll in Pennsylvania (by a pollster with results that have consistently skewed in Romney's favor), the new surveys all gave Obama nominal leads.

In addition, the tracking model continues to show Obama with narrower advantages in New Hampshire and Colorado, but tied or slightly behind in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina.

The new polls are just beginning to capture sentiment measured after the second debate. New surveys released over the weekend should begin to clarify whether any new trends will emerge. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/19/2012-polls-barack-obama-swing
-states_n_1985645.html]
Now that's the HuffPost, so their material needs to be viewed as at least somewhat biased.

From another source, concerning swing states:

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Florida: Romney 51%, Obama 46% (Rasmussen)

Iowa: Romney 49%, Obama 48% (Public Policy Polling)

Nevada: Obama 51%, Romney 43% (Mellman)

New Hampshire: Romney 49%, Obama 48% (Public Policy Polling)

North Carolina: Obama 47%, Romney 44% (Grove Insight)

Virginia: Romney 50%, Obama 47% (Rasmussen) http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/10/19/latest_swing_state_polls.
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These races always tighten up toward the end, don't they? Seems to me that's what I've heard, and Romney dertainly has tightened it up!

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Three-fourths of Americans (76%) in an Oct. 17-18 Gallup poll say they watched the debate, higher than the 66% who told Gallup in an Oct. 4-5 poll that they watched the first presidential debate on Oct. 3.

The two-day field period after the night of the debate means Americans' judgments about who won not only reflect their personal reaction but may also be influenced by news coverage and media commentary in the days following the debate. However, most of the instant reaction polls conducted in the first few hours after the second debate also found debate watchers naming Obama the winner.

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