Mitt-Mentum

Ever since the first poll after last week’s Presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was released, the Romney campaign has gained significantly in battleground states as well as nationwide.

In a poll released today, the Denver Post found that Mitt Romney has pulled ahead in Colorado – a state considered in CDN’s electoral analysis and others to be a toss-up. This marks continuing momentum for the challenger’s campaign as the election is but three weeks away.

Real Clear Politic’s own electoral map just yesterday marked Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania as toss-up states after previously showing them leaning towards Obama. That puts only 13 states in Obama’s corner with 19 in Romney’s. RCP indicates that 156 delegates are now up for grabs with Romney holding 181 and Obama 201. CDN’s analysis shows the race a bit closer with far fewer toss-up delegates in the count.

The Washington Post writes that Romney’s favorable ratings are on the climb with him holding positive favorability numbers in all states except Ohio. The National Journal writes that “New battleground-state polls show slight movement toward Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in five of the states that could prove pivotal in the battle for the White House.”

Romney has gained 6 points among independents in a set of three Newsmax/Zogby polls. Independents are largely expected to play heavily in the outcome of the Presidential race. Respondents also dropped Obama from 37 to 34% when asked if the President deserved re-election.

The NBCNews/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Wednesday showed Romney and Obama tied in Virginia and Florida – a state Obama had held a lead in until recently.

The polling data taken by itself shows a close race if held today, but the trend is decidedly in Romney’s favor – voters are turning away from the incumbent in larger numbers each day. With little time to reverse the trend, the race may be Romney and V.P. Candidate Paul Ryan’s to lose.

The momentum is largely credited to a superior performance of Mitt Romney in the first Presidential Debate. Last night’s V.P. Debate was lightly watched and is generally thought to have been a tie. Only two more Presidential debates remain and a short period of time before the election.