PPP's daily national tracking poll now finds Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney 50-47 based on interviews conducted between Thursday and Saturday. This is the first time either candidate has led by more than 2 points in the three weeks we've been doing this survey. Obama has led in 4 individual days of polling in a row since Wednesday, suggesting that he may be getting a bounce based on his leadership during Hurricane Sandy. 
 
 Obama's approval is now on positive ground at 48/47. On our release last Saturday night he was at 44/52, so his net approval has improved 9 points in the last week. Obama's net favorability rating of +5 (51/46) is now 7 points better than Romney's is at -2 (47/49). 
 
 There are a couple reasons Obama has pulled into this small lead. One is that he's turned what had been a persistent disadvantage with independents into a 49/44 advantage. The other is that he's reduced what had been a 20+ point deficit with white voters back down to a 57/40 spread. When you combine that with his 89/9 lead among African Americans and 67/28 edge with Hispanics it's the formula for a small overall lead. 
 
 There are also indications that young voters might be renewing their enthusiasm for Obama in the closing stage of the campaign. He's leading 66/33 with respondents under 30, making up for his 49/47 deficit with the rest of the electorate. 
 
 It's still a very close race but momentum seems to be on Obama's side in the closing stretch. 
 
 Full results here ||||| DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Mitt Romney has taken a narrow national lead, tightened the gender gap and expanded his edge over President Barack Obama on who would best grow the economy. 
 
 A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll of 1,000 likely voters — taken from Sunday through Thursday of last week — shows Romney ahead of Obama by 2 percentage points, 49 to 47 percent. That represents a 3-point swing in the GOP nominee’s direction from a week ago but is still within the margin of error. Obama led 49 percent to 48 percent the week before. 
 
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 Romney has not led in the poll since the beginning of May. 
 
 Across the 10 states identified by POLITICO as competitive, Romney leads 50 percent to 48 percent. 
 
 On the generic congressional ballot, Republicans now tie Democrats, 46 percent to 46 percent, after trailing slightly over the past six weeks. 
 
 Two weeks from Election Day, the GOP nominee also continues to maintain a potentially pivotal advantage in intensity among his supporters. Seventy-two percent of those who support Obama say they are “extremely likely” to vote, compared to 80 percent who back Romney. Among this group, Romney leads Obama by 7 points, 52 percent to 45 percent. 
 
 Women propelled Romney’s move into first place in the poll — a majority of which was conducted before the Hofstra debate. Obama’s 11-point advantage a week ago among the crucially important group dwindled to 6 points. The Democratic incumbent still leads 51 to 45 percent with women, but Romney leads by 10 points among men. 
 
 Romney also doubled the size of his advantage over Obama on which candidate would better handle the economy. This week, 51 percent of respondents picked Romney and 45 percent chose Obama, compared to 50 percent for Romney and 47 percent for Obama a week ago. The former Massachusetts governor also leads by 4 points, 50 to 46 percent, on who would create more jobs. 
 
 A majority, 53 percent, disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy, compared to 45 percent who approve. That 8-point spread was only 3 points a week ago. 
 
 Celinda Lake, the Democratic pollster who helped conduct the poll, sees the drop in Obama’s support among women and who can best handle the economy as connected. Obama now has only a 4-point advantage among women on who is better for the economy, even though respondents give the president significantly higher marks on a host of other questions, such as who shares their values and who is fighting hardest for the middle class. 
 
 Romney, meanwhile, is again underwater with women on likability: Forty0five percent view him favorably, and 50 percent view him unfavorably. ||||| Mitt Romney continues his rise, according to a Gallup poll released today that suggests he has a seven-point national lead over President Obama. 
 
 The tracking poll, which surveyed likely voters, put Romney ahead 52-45, Gallup reported. 
 
 The poll, experts cautioned, is one of several that should be gauged to get an accurate assessment of the status of the campaign. 
 
 An ABC News/Washington Post survey of likely voters from Oct. 15 had Obama leading Romney 49-46. 
 
 Nicolle Wallace, a top aide to Sen. John McCain during his 2008 run and current ABC News analyst, said "the numbers [in the Gallup poll] suggest that the first debate permanently liberated Romney from the caricature that had been created by the Obama campaign's ad onslaught and by Romney's own high profile gaffes. 
 
 "If his numbers hold up after his second -- weaker -- debate performance, the Romney campaign will go into the final two weeks with understandable confidence," she said. 
 
 Neither the Romney nor the Obama campaigns addressed the latest figures. 
 
 The Gallup poll released today presents a rolling average of results gathered during the past week. So any boost Obama might have gained from his more energetic showing in New York Tuesday night is still mostly missing. 
 
 Gallup's Oct. 23 report, which will account for all seven days after that second debate, will offer a more clear look at the landscape. 
 
 Others were more cautious about the results of the poll. 
 
 Stu Rothenberg, author of the respected Rothenberg Political Report, said, "It seems awful big to me, especially since Gallup has shown Obama's job approval rising." 
 
 "I would urge real caution on just accepting face value on single survey, no matter who it is. ... I'd want to see other polls showing the same thing before I jump to conclusions," Rothenberg warned. 
 
 Another expert on presidential races, Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report, was also wary. 
 
 "I like Gallup but have a strong sense that this is an outlier, that Romney was, pre-debate, probably ahead nationally by low single digits," he told ABC News.
– Mitt Romney's lead over President Obama stands at 3 points in today's Gallup tracking poll, and among registered voters Obama actually leads 48-47. The poll is noteworthy, the Hill explains, because Gallup has lately been much higher on Romney than all the other polls; he was ahead by 3 yesterday, too, but for most of last week, he was up between 5 and 7 points. The results back up a trend Nate Silver has been seeing: It appears Romney's rise has stalled. Yesterday he lost ground in five out of six daily polls. "This is the closest we've come in a week or so to one candidate clearly having 'won' the day … and it was Mr. Obama," Silver writes. "It's improbable that Mr. Romney would have a day like this if he still had momentum." Romney still has a slight edge in RealClearPolitics' polling average, but Silver's prediction model still has Obama as a 71% favorite to win.