One percent. A mere one percent is all that separates Mitt Romney from incumbent President Barack Obama in a recent North Carolina poll. It all comes down to the swing states.
“Can Mitt Romney win North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Ohio?,” Ford O’Connell asked during an interview with Fox News. “And if he [Romney] can he will likely be the next president of the United States, and if he can’t, and President Obama just wins one of those states, he will remain in office.”
Many experts consider North Carolina–usually a conservative state–up for grabs. It’s such an important state that the Democratic Party decided to hold its national convention in Charlotte on September 4th.
As of July 10th, challenger Romney leads incumbent Obama 46.4% to 45.4% in a poll by The Huffington Post. Among men, Romney leads 51% to 44%, but among women, Obama leads 53% to 43%.
“In a CNN poll earlier this month, Obama had a three-point lead, generated mainly by a gender gap of nine points, with women going for Obama 54% to 43 % for Romney,” said Bryce Covert, a Forbes contributor.
Women may play the deciding role in determining who wins the general election. Women tend to lead to toward the Democrats, which could pose a problem for Romney. Issues such as birth control, contraception and health care work to widen the gender gap.
As in the 2008 election, the 2012 Presidential election will come down to who ever can put together the winning combination in the swing states.
[Election maps courtesy of AP and Jason Kottke under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Creative Commons license]
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Seyi Gbadesin is a rising senior at Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham, N.C. He is a native of Nigeria as well as an accomplished track athlete.