Obama extends lead over Romney: Poll

DENVER

President Obama will travel to Iowa for a three-day tour starting on Aug 13. AP photo

U.S. President Barack Obama has extended his lead over his Republican rival Mitt Romney among registered voters with 49 percent to 42, up slightly from the 6-point advantage the president held a month earlier over the former Massachusetts governor, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Aug. 8.

The results of the monthly poll, in which a majority of voters agreed that the economy is the most important problem facing the U.S., suggest that the Obama campaign’s efforts to paint Romney as being out of touch with the concerns of middle-class Americans could be preventing the Republican from gaining momentum in the race.

Push for women voters

With less than 100 days left before the election, Obama aggravated a culture war battle over contraception as he wooed women voters, warning that Mitt Romney’s Republicans would turn back the clock to the 1950s. “When it comes to a woman’s right to make her own health care choices, they want to take us back to the policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century,” Obama said. Women, who represent about 53 percent of the electorate, backed Obama 56-43 percent over John McCain in the 2008 election. Both candidates will also focus their campaigning on “swing” states next week. Romney is taking a bus tour in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio starting on Aug. 11, and Obama will travel to Iowa for a three-day bus tour starting on Aug. 13.