Gallup: Romney closes gap

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. voters were nearly evenly split in their opinions of President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney immediately following their debate, Gallup said.

Obama held an average lead of 3 percentage points, 49 percent to 46 percent, among registered voters, the first three days of Gallup tracking since last week's debate, results indicated.

Obama held leads of 4-to-6 percentage points over Romney in the eight days before the debate Wednesday, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said Monday.

Gallup said the shift may reflect personal reaction to the debate, as well as the impact of news stories and media commentary, which mostly declared Romney as the debate winner.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted with 1,387 registered voters Thursday through Saturday as part of the Gallup Daily tracking survey. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.