US News

Incumbent poll-axed

Mitt Romney has expanded his lead over President Obama in a key national poll and caught up in the swing state of Wisconsin.

Gallup’s seven-day national tracking survey shows Romney ahead of Obama 51-45 percent among likely voters— an increase of 1 percentage point from the day before. The 6-point cushion is outside the 2 percentage-point margin of error.

But another national survey conducted by Rasmussen showed a dead heat — Romney leading Obama 49-48 percent.

More troubling for Obama is that Romney has wiped out the president’s lead in Wisconsin.

The Marquette University survey shows a virtual tie — with Obama up by 49-48 percent.

Before the first debate two weeks ago, Obama held a commanding 11-point lead over Romney in Marquette polling.

“Rarely has a debate produced such large movement in the polls. In September, President Obama held a steady lead, but now the race is a pure toss-up, in large measure because of the first debate,’’ said Marquette polling director Charles Franklin.