Thanks to his recent flub regarding Obama's reaction to the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and the Middle East protests against America following release of the controversial trailer of The Innocence of Muslims, Mitt Romney has seen a slide in the polls. According to New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow, this drop in numbers reflects the Republican presidential hopeful's lack of positive defining character moments, or opportunities for him to display why American voters should choose him instead of President Barack Obama in November.
It also doesn't help that Romney seems incapable of concealing his anxiety. He too often looks like a boy who just stepped on a nail and can't remember his last tetanus shot.
On a side note, it is a poetic twist of fate that a Republican candidate's crude response to irrational violence resulting from an anti-Muslim video could boost a president who nearly a third of Republicans irrationally claim is Muslim.
Now to the polls. A New York Times/CBS News poll pollreleased Friday found that President Obama had a three-point lead over Romney among likely voters and an eight-point lead among registered voters.
And NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Thursday found that the president had significant leads in the critical swing states of Ohio, Florida and Virginia.
Romney needs to win those states, especially given that his supporters are giving up on Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Read Charles M. Blow's entire piece at the New York Times.
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