Latest National Presidential Election Polls 2012: Romney Increases Lead to 7 Points in Gallup Poll, Where is Obama's Comeback?

Despite another meme-spawning presidential debate, Mitt Romney extended his lead over President Obama in national polls today.

The daily Gallup tracking poll has Romney at a whopping 7 points ahead among likely voters, 52 percent to Obama's 45 percent. That's even higher than yesterday, when Romney pulled 6 points ahead, breaking out of the margin of error for the first time, and officially becoming the frontrunner, at least according to Gallup.

The Rasmussen tracking poll has Romney ahead 2 points nationwide, 49 percent to Obama's 47 percent.

Today's polls put Romney at his highest levels of support of the entire official campaign. Until just a few weeks ago, he was consistently 5 or more points down in the polls, with no signs of being able to catch up. The first presidential debate changed that, and his numbers have been on the rise ever since.

Not all the news is bad for Obama. While the tracking polls show Romney ahead, sometimes substantially, they are usually only snapshots of current sentiment, and don't necessarily predict where the trend is heading.

The strong debate performances from Vice President Joe Biden last week and the president on Tuesday have done much to stem the loss of support from the Democratic ticket, and while overall support has been eroded, even among traditionally Democratic constituencies like women, Obama still leads in most of the important swing states.

Pollsters have speculated that the race would settle into a tie this week, before a three-week slug-fest through to Election Day. While that may still happen, the polls over the last two days show Romney ascendant. But it may take another day or so before the results of the most recent debate are reflected in the polls.

The final presidential debate is Monday, and while in years past they have made little difference on the outcome of the election, this year is obviously different. The electorate seems persuadable, and an especially strong or weak performance from either candidate in their final showdown may tip the public in a direction that is impossible to reroute before November 6.

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