>>> there are a slew of new polls out. all showing president paum with an edge over mitt romney . florida shows a one-point lead for the president. the president leads by 14 in romney 's childhood home in michigan. north carolina , believe it or not. a poll out there has the president up four points. ohio, the president with a five-point lead. pennsylvania, new poll shows two points separating president barack obama and mitt romney . counter conventional numbers there as well. a distinguished senior fellow at demoos. kelly wallace is right next to me here. very cozy. and "the new york times," nicholas -- . got it mostly right. the battle ground presentation there. does it feel like they are showing either mitt romney overperforming or president obama overperforming. but there seems to be a general trent that the president looks stronger in battleground than national numbers.
>> finally voters are tuning in and pay attention . but almost all these polls are margin of error.
>> sure. you see the solidifying of position and the tiny sliver of voters starting to put the markers down. half o the voters have already voted. they haven't voted, but they can. 25 states already you can vote in some form, in person, early, absentee. the estimate now is 40% of folks are going to vote early. it's too bad you can't say i'm voting earlying don't show me more tickets.
>> it's a disadvantage to mitt romney . this is not the time. he is saying that people are just now really starting to pay attention . he's obviously looking to the debates. but it is interesting. i did cover john kerry back in 2004 . and there are some similarities.
>> did he overdo it?
>> i don't know.
>> do you feel like you're having deja vu ?
>> i do. his unfavors were not nearly as high.
>> but not good.
>> not good. and he had a vulnerable incumbent in george bush . george bush was leading. then you had the first debate and it changed everything. john kerry thought he was going to win. so we could see something like that. we'll have to see.
>> somebody shared with me, well, after john kerry in the first debate, well, he made the playoffs. does the team make the playoffs? and that's what mitt romney -- i would say he is certainly in the wild card division. but he needs the new form.
>> there's a disconnect between what the polls are showing and sort of what the feel is both in the media, and i think among the electorate. the polls are showing within the margin of error or close region, but there's a feeling that romney is losing it. and if that beings the general impression, that's bad for romney .
>> it feels like they're fighting that. he's not conceding. he was asked the very questions for the press corps today and in 60 minutes . no, no, no. we're even.
>> whatever he says publicly, i don't know if it helps or not. they need to know internally if this impression of romney is set in stone, that's very difficult to overcome. debates or no debates.
>> and the place i would say he's the most behind is ohio. and they're doing a big bus tour. mitt romney had more energy on the trail with paul ryan . they know that. and it's become a real problem.
>> he has fewer ways to win than obama. that's a main cause of pessimism on their side. but there's a slight disconnect. and part of the reason is this race was stagnant for so long. almost a year. finally you see a jump-up for the president. everyone is like, oh my god. it's over.
>> where was the bus tour after the republican convention ? it continues to be the biggest mystery. exactly. 13 rallies.
>> this is a big deal .
>> i think people don't realize it.
>> he needs to get the cash.
>> i there's another problem for romney that's brewing and that is that there is more and more enthusiasm building on the democratic side.
>> they're catching up. there's still more gop enthusiasm. don't underthestimate that. they're still more ready to go to the polls than they were four years ago on the republican side . they're catching up.
>> democratic voters were really not happy a couple months and they're getting more enthusiastic.
>>> which we come back, i want to deal with the biggest question of new yorkers this week. is this u.n. week or is this bill clinton week? we asked, how
>> finally voters are tuning in and pay attention . but almost all these polls are margin of error.
>> sure. you see the solidifying of position and the tiny sliver of voters starting to put the markers down. half o the voters have already voted. they haven't voted, but they can. 25 states already you can vote in some form, in person, early, absentee. the estimate now is 40% of folks are going to vote early. it's too bad you can't say i'm voting earlying don't show me more tickets.
>> it's a disadvantage to mitt romney . this is not the time. he is saying that people are just now really starting to pay attention . he's obviously looking to the debates. but it is interesting. i did cover john kerry back in 2004 . and there are some similarities.
>> did he overdo it?
>> i don't know.
>> do you feel like you're having deja vu ?
>> i do. his unfavors were not nearly as high.
>> but not good.
>> not good. and he had a vulnerable incumbent in george bush . george bush was leading. then you had the first debate and it changed everything. john kerry thought he was going to win. so we could see something like that. we'll have to see.
>> somebody shared with me, well, after john kerry in the first debate, well, he made the playoffs. does the team make the playoffs? and that's what mitt romney -- i would say he is certainly in the wild card division. but he needs the new form.
>> there's a disconnect between what the polls are showing and sort of what the feel is both in the media, and i think among the electorate. the polls are showing within the margin of error or close region, but there's a feeling that romney is losing it. and if that beings the general impression, that's bad for romney .
>> it feels like they're fighting that. he's not conceding. he was asked the very questions for the press corps today and in 60 minutes . no, no, no. we're even.
>> whatever he says publicly, i don't know if it helps or not. they need to know internally if this impression of romney is set in stone, that's very difficult to overcome. debates or no debates.
>> and the place i would say he's the most behind is ohio. and they're doing a big bus tour. mitt romney had more energy on the trail with paul ryan . they know that. and it's become a real problem.
>> he has fewer ways to win than obama. that's a main cause of pessimism on their side. but there's a slight disconnect. and part of the reason is this race was stagnant for so long. almost a year. finally you see a jump-up for the president. everyone is like, oh my god. it's over.
>> where was the bus tour after the republican convention ? it continues to be the biggest mystery. exactly. 13 rallies.
>> this is a big deal .
>> i think people don't realize it.
>> he needs to get the cash.
>> i there's another problem for romney that's brewing and that is that there is more and more enthusiasm building on the democratic side.
>> they're catching up. there's still more gop enthusiasm. don't underthestimate that. they're still more ready to go to the polls than they were four years ago on the republican side . they're catching up.
>> democratic voters were really not happy a couple months and they're getting more enthusiastic.
>>> which we come back, i want to deal with the biggest question of new yorkers this week. is this u.n. week or is this bill clinton week? we asked, how