US Presidential Elections: New Wave of Polls Gives Obama the Advantage - by Christina Bellantoni and Terence Burlij

Whether you take the national view or go state-by-state, the polls all seem to show the same thing: President Obama has the advantage over Mitt Romney 48 days from Election Day.

The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday showed the president leading nationally among likely voters, 50 percent to 45 percent. It's the first time he has hit 50 percent in the survey since March.

The president had closed the gap with Romney on the question of which candidate would do a better job of handling the economy, with the two men now tied at 43 percent. The Republican presidential nominee held a six-point lead on that measure in July.

At the same time, views about the economy also improved. Forty-two percent of Americans said they think the economy will get better in the next 12 months, a six-point uptick since last month, while 18 percent responded they expected it to get worse. About a third of respondents said the economy would stay about the same.

The president also appeared to be in better shape in the battleground states that will ultimately decide the fall campaign.

A batch of swing-state surveys released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News showed the president with a six-point lead in Wisconsin (51 percent to 45 percent), a four-point advantage in Virginia (50-46) and a narrow edge in Colorado (48-47).

Mr. Obama made his first remarks on Romney's comments to David Letterman on Tuesday night. He pointedly needled his rival for saying that 47 percent of Americans would not vote for the Republican.
"I can tell you this. When I won in 2008, 47 percent of the American people voted for John McCain," Mr. Obama said. "They didn't vote for me. What I said on election night was even though you didn't vote for me, I hear your voices and I'm going as work as hard as I can to be your president. One of the things I've learned as president is you represent the entire country. And when I meet Republicans as I'm traveling around the country, they are hardworking family people who care deeply about this country. And my expectation is if you want to be president you've got to work for everybody, not just for some."

A new Democratic ad being aired which says, "Mitt Romney isn't the solution, he's the problem." is probably one that hits the nail on the head for the gafs Romney has been making.

Read more: New Wave of Polls Gives Obama the Advantage | PBS NewsHour