After bounce, Romney forays into Obama territory

With the bounce given by the first presidential debate tightening the presidential race, Republican challenger Mitt Romney made a bold foray into parts of swing states that voted for President Barack Obama in 2008.

The new strategy came as three new national polls indicated a big bounce for Romney with a CNN Poll of Polls that averages all three polls showing Romney marginally shooting ahead of Obama by 48 percent to 47 percent.

Indicating a big reversal of fortunes for Obama, a Pew Research Centre showed Romney with a 49 percent-45 percent advantage over Obama, while a previous survey, conducted by Pew in mid-September gave the president 51 percent-43 percent lead among likely voters.

The Gallup daily tracking poll too indicated Romney at 49 percent and Obama 47 percent among likely voters, while an ARG poll indicated the former Massachusetts governor at 48 percent, with Obama at 47 percent.

According to ARG's previous poll, conducted end September, the president was at 49 percent and Romney at 46 percent.

However, the Obama campaign  Tuesday made light of the new polls with campaign spokesperson Jenn Psaki telling reporters aboard Air Force One, "We're implementing our own game plan. We're focused on getting our supporters out, communicating the choice."

Psaki, according to Politico, a news site focusing on presidential politics maintained that unlike Mitt Romney's campaign, which has reportedly pulled back from Pennsylvania and upped its focus on Ohio, the Obama camp is still competing vigorously in every state it set its sights on from the beginning.

"We feel that the race and the states in play have been entirely consistent," she said. "...This is a race that is being competed every day [in] about seven to nine states. That's where we're up on the air, that's where our focus is."

Campaigning in Ohio, Obama himself alleged that Romney misled the country about his tax plan during Wednesday's presidential debate by suggesting that his rival spent his whole campaign running on a $5 trillion tax cut only to disavow it while on the debate stage.

According to the Wall Street Journal both candidates also are now talking differently to voters. Obama is delivering a more assertive message that focuses on promises he made and says he kept, such as ending the Iraq war and cutting taxes for the middle class.

Romney, on the other hand is speaking more about personal experiences, such as his work as a Mormon church leader, at a time when some polls suggest the negative image that many voters hold of him is beginning to soften, it said.

Politico also wondered if Romney's post-debate bounce will last noting that Romney's bounce came after a debate in which Obama's performance was widely panned as too passive. He is unlikely to make the same mistake again.