Pew poll shows Romney leading Obama by 49 to 45 percent

A new national poll released on Monday showed Mitt Romney leading President Barack Obama on the heels of last week's presidential debate, which was widely perceived as having been won by Romney. The poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center, showed Romney leading Obama by 49 to 45 percent among likely voters. Romney has trailed Obama in most national polls to date. Sixty-six percent of registered voters said in the poll that they thought Romney had done a better job in the debates, compared with 20 percent who said the same of Obama. The Pew poll was conducted Oct. 4-7, which includes the aftermath of the debate and the announcement on Friday that the US jobless rate had fallen to 7. 8 percent, news seen as helpful to Obama. Additional national and state polls to be released this week could provide a clearer picture of the Obama-Romney presidential race, which concludes with the November 6 election. The Pew poll -- which some analysts said sampled heavily among Republicans, the party of Romney -- has a margin of error of 3.4 percent for its sample of likely voters, and a 3.3 percent margin of error for its sample of registered voters.