Obama Regains the Lead in National Polling – By 0.1 Percent

As of this afternoon, with the +6 Gallup numbers baked into the RealClearPolitics cake, Barack Obama once again leads in the average of all polls. By one-tenth of one percent.
Does this continue into the weekend? You’ve got Restore Our Future re-engaged in the swing states, which can only boost Romney. But with Gallup, you have a complete set of polls that suggest Obama clearly won the second debate. Not a soul-crushing landslide win like Romney pulled in Denver. Just a 51-38 win overall and a 21-point win among independents. I think that matters because I think the Denver debate raised more questions about the acuity of the incumbent than anything at this level the first Mondale-Reagan debate. You heard it even from Democrats in swing states – what the hell happened to Obama, that made him so loose and tired and disengaged? If you were a Republican, you lego’d that debate right into the “Obama can’t talk without a teleprompter” narrative. (See the post-debate National Review cover of a glum Obama standing in his underwear.) If you were undecided, you worried. You’ll never forgot how serious and impressive Romney seemed, and you’ll never take the attack ads quite so seriously again. But Obama showed up for the second debate, and seemed competent, and you’re waffling again.