Mixed news for the president in crucial swing states, judging from several polls that look either very good or very bad for Obama.
A USA Today/Gallup poll in 12 swing states shows Romney up by 5 points, and gaining among women, a key Democratic constituency, even though still leads among women by 2 points.
Obama won women by 13 points nationwide in 2008 against John McCain.
And three of those states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico) aren't necessarily considered swing states, as they lean heavily toward Obama. So the additional of those three states would be likely to shift the numbers in Obama's directions, making his 5-point deficit look even worse.
However, new single-state polls in swing states generally break for Obama. Two polls in Pennsylvania, one by Morning Call and one by Quinnipiac, show Obama with a 4-point lead over Romney.
A WeAskAmerica poll puts Obama ahead in Iowa by 3 points.
But another WeAskAmerica poll in Colorado shows Romney with a 1-point lead, and two polls show ties in Iowa and New Hampshire, states that the president had been ahead in.
While most of the states covered in these new polls are smaller, and therefore worth fewer electoral votes, the race is very close, and may come down to which candidate can cobble together the most votes from small states, especially if they end up splitting the big swing state prizes of Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.
Right now it looks as though Obama may take Ohio and Virginia, while Romney is showing relatively solid support in North Carolina and Florida.
Both candidates are concentrating their efforts in Ohio, No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio, and Romney has few avenues to success without it.
Obama, for his part, wants the state as a convenient block, forcing Romney to divide his efforts among many, smaller venues.
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