President Obama's job approval rating and level of voter support have
reached the critical 50% point, according to Gallup, but there is still
plenty of opportunity for the White House race to fluctuate.
Gallup says Obama's job approval rating
stands at 51%. At the same time, the president leads Mitt Romney
50%-44% among registered voters in the daily tracking poll -- similar to
where the race stood after the Democratic convention this month.
The race is "currently favorable to Obama," Gallup says in its headline.
The
50% mark for job approval is generally considered a crucial metric for
presidents seeking re-election. Gallup has found over the years that
presidents generally have won another term if they've reached at least
that mark at election time. George W. Bush, who was at 48% in 2004, was
an exception.
At one point this month, Obama's approval rating dipped to 43%.
"Obama
... has had more good days than bad this month, in terms of achieving
job approval ratings of 49% or better," writes Gallup's Lydia Saad. "But
there have been enough dips below that to suggest the race is far from
over."
The two political conventions, events in Libya and the
Middle East, and Romney's secretly taped comments about 47% of Americans
being dependent on the government have all been factors shaping the
presidential race this month. Still to come: three presidential debates
and two more government reports showing unemployment and job gains.
USA Today