Obama, Romney in virtual tie in polls; numbers static since April [View all]

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Source: Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON -- Since mid-April, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped nearly 40 cents. President Barack Obama has announced support for same-sex marriage. Government statisticians have delivered two disappointing monthly jobs reports. Tensions have ebbed and flowed with Iran. And Mitt Romney has clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

And the presidential polls? Flat-lined.

Contradicting reams of punditry, national polls have not moved an inch amid those events -- not to mention the lesser political battles that have animated cable news programs. In Gallup's daily polling, to take one example, Romney and Obama were tied 46%-46% on April 11. Two months later, the poll had Obama up one point, 46%-45%, a statistically identical result. For more than seven weeks, neither candidate's standing has moved more than 3 percentage points -- well within the poll's margin of error.

Instead of a race, the campaign for president has turned into something more closely resembling trench warfare: dug-in armies, intense exchanges of fire, no movement.

The lack of movement is problematic for Obama. Both candidates, of course, would like to have broken free by now. But for Romney, just keeping Obama below 50% counts as an advantage, on the assumption that a majority of late deciders are more likely to vote against the incumbent.

By contrast, many Democratic strategists had hoped that by now Obama would have started to build a lead over the Republican, whom they derided earlier this year as a weak nominee with little popularity even within his own part

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20120617/NEWS07/206170581/Obama-Romney-in-virtual-tie-in-polls-numbers-static-since-April