President Obama has reached 50 percent in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday night, crossing a key threshold that makes him a strong favorite less than 50 days before the presidential election.
According to the poll, Obama leads Mitt Romney 50 to 45 among likely voters, and 50 to 44 among registered voters. The president had not reached 50 percent since March in these surveys.
With few voters undecided, Obama’s number puts him in strong position to win reelection, particularly as Mitt Romney is suffering from a series of gaffes that have conservatives complaining about his candidacy. Polls released by NBC, the Wall Street Journal and Marist found last week Obama ahead as well in Florida, Ohio and Virginia, three key states Romney effectively must win to be elected.
The poll shows Obama ahead 88 to 4 percent among black voters and 60 to 28 among Latinos, advantages he has had for much of the year. White voters favor Romney by a margin of 51 to 43. Obama leads by 23 points among voters under 35, while Romney leads by 18 among the elderly.
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