PPP: Obama still ahead in Wisconsin by 2-points...

[WI_DEM]

Now remember PPP never had Obama up double digits like Marquette University Poll did, so don't compare those polls--they are different. The fact that Obama is still ahead after Romney's debate bump is significant and remember it's also Ryan's home state. OBAMA IS AHEAD. That is the story and debate bumps, like convention bumps fade.

PPP's newest Wisconsin poll finds a big debate bump for Mitt Romney in the state. Two weeks ago he trailed Barack Obama by 7 points there, 52-45. Now he's pulled to within two points, with Obama's lead now just 49-47.

There's not much doubt it was Romney's strong debate performance on Wednesday night that's given him this boost. Voters think he won the debate by a 61/25 margin, including a 60/19 margin with independents. 95% of Republicans think Romney won the debate, while only 50% of Democrats claim to think Obama was the winner. Romney's image has seen significant improvement over the last couple weeks with 49% of voters now expressing a positive opinion of him to 48% with a negative one. That's up a net 8 points from a 44/51 spread on our last poll.

The main shift compared to 2 weeks ago in Wisconsin is an increase in Republican enthusiasm about Romney and the election in general. He's gone from leading Obama by 79 points with Republicans (89-10) to an 85 point advantage (92-7). One thing that might be reassuring for Democrats is that Obama's held steady with independents in the state, continuing to hold a 9 point lead.

There's also been a big uptick in Republican enthusiasm about the election. Two weeks ago there was basically no enthusiasm gap with 65% of Democrats and 63% of GOP voters saying they were 'very excited' to vote this fall. Now the Republicans are seeing an advantage on that question with their share of 'very excited' voters climbing to 72% while the Democrats have declined to 63%

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/

p.s.
I have faith in VP Biden taking on Ryan next week and I believe we will see a different Obama when he next meets Romney.

[WI_DEM]

1. Obama needs to get enthusiasm back on his side--that is why the next debate is so vital

Also not sure the unemployment numbers are having as big an effect as some on DU think. I'm not sure how many people actually know that unemployment went down compared to nearly 70 million people who watched the debate. However, next week Biden needs to keep talking about the unemployment numbers and contrasting things with what we inherited.

[regnaD kciN]

2. The big story from PPP...

...was a tweet from earlier today reporting that the polling numbers they were now getting we're "a lot more like pre-debate numbers" than the pro-Romney numbers they were getting yesterday. If this (along with the Ipsos tracker numbers from today showing no change) turns out to be the case, it would appear that the "Romney surge" may turn out to be a very short-lived phenomenon.

[WI_DEM]

3. true and the other interesting point in this PPP poll is that independents still favor Obama by 9

the same as their poll prior to the debate--what happened is that Romney got increased numbers and enthusiasm from GOP voters.