(Newser)
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President Obama still holds a small lead over Mitt Romney, and it's thanks entirely to his popularity with women and minorities, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. The poll has Obama ahead 49% to 45% overall, but his support among women is especially strong at 56% to 38%, and his support among blacks is nearly unanimous at 94% to 2%. Men and whites, by contrast, back Romney 52% to 42% and 53% to 42%, respectively.
In other polling news:
- Voters expect Obama will win the presidential debates by a margin of 54% to 28%.
- Obama's numbers among Latinos have hit an all-time high; a Latino Decisions tracking poll has him up 73% to 21%, the Hill reports.
- Romney's "47%" comment has hurt him badly, a Pew poll finds: 67% of voters are aware of the gaffe, and 55% of those people reacted negatively, compared to only 23% who approved of the comments.
- In individual state polling, CNN reports that Obama is crushing Romney in New Hampshire, while Romney has opened a slim lead in North Carolina.
- Moody's latest projection has Obama winning 303 electoral votes, and that's after accounting for what it calls the "grumpy voter effect" in states with a jobless rate above 8%.
- In down-ballot news, Claire McCaskill is up 9% over Todd Akin, the Kansas City Star reports, while Politico notes that Mia Love is ahead in her bid to be the first black female Republican in Congress.
