Barack Obama's hopes of reviving his flagging re-election campaign received a much-needed boost after a series of polls showed the president leading in the must-win battleground state of
Ohio.
As both Mr Obama and his Republican opponent
Mitt Romney prepared for two crunch debates in
New York and
Florida in the coming week, a Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey found Mr Obama with a five-point lead in Ohio, backing up polls last week from
CNN and
NBC that showed a similar lead.
Mr Romney has seen a surge in the polls in recent weeks, but without Ohio he would need to win Florida and in all likelihood several up-for-grabs states such as
Virginia,
Iowa,
Colorado,
New Hampshire and
Nevada to take the
White House.
"He can probably win the presidency without Ohio, but I wouldn't want to take the risk. No Republican has," the Ohio Senator
Rob Portman, who has been campaigning frantically for Mr Romney in the state, told
ABC News.
The Ohio polls make encouraging reading for Mr Obama who faces one of the sternest tests of his political career on Tuesday at the second presidential debate, when he will try to make up for his disastrous performance in the first contest in
Denver ten days ago.
Aides promise that Mr Obama would be more aggressive when he meets Mr Romney, drawing a sharp contrast between their policies on tax, business and welfare...
