President Barack Obama’s debate performance last week and Mitt Romney’s surge in the polls since then are making some of the incumbent’s supporters very nervous.
The liberal wing of the Democratic Party in particular is starting to question Obama's chance for re-election,
Politico reports. “That’s my party: irrational overconfidence followed by irrational despair,” veteran Democratic political consultant Jim Jordan, joked to the news service.
As for polls, the last four tallied by Real Clear Politics, which were conducted Oct. 2-9, show Romney leading by 1 to 4 percentage points. Of the prior 15 polls, conducted Sept. 11 to Oct. 4, Obama was ahead in 14. The debate took place Oct. 3.
In this year’s race, the margin for error is thin. With the outcome likely dependent on a small number of votes in a few swing states, the dynamic can shift easily. For that reason there are some Democrats who aren’t quite as worried.
“My honest and truthful answer is Democrats are not panicked, and I’m not exactly sure why,” veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, who still thinks Obama will win, told Politico. “Maybe I’m being silly here, but I’ve talked to a lot of people today and everybody’s saying the same thing.”
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