UPI Poll: Obama holds slim lead

One day after reclaiming a lead over Republican rival Mitt Romney, President Obama maintained a slim advantage in the United Press International poll released Thursday.

Forty-eight percent of likely voters indicated they would vote for Obama if the election were held today, compared to 47 percent who said they would back Romney, results of the UPI-CVoter poll indicated, a statistical tie due to a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

In Thursday's poll, Obama maintained a 50 percent approval rating, while 45 percent of respondents say they disprove of his performance as president, the same results as the previous day's poll.

While sentiment was negative, with 58 percent of registered voters saying either the country, their lives, or both were in a poor state, 51 percent said they expect their living standard to improve within the next year.

Voters say Republicans maintain a small edge over Democrats, 37 to 35, in which party voters thought would better handle the issue that matters most to them.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews conducted Oct. 18-25, with 1,179 adults who said they would likely vote in this year's election.

UPI/CVoter International tracking poll