newjerseynewsroom.com

BY GINA G. SCALA

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The final countdown is a dozen days away, but the polling gaps between President Barrack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney are tapering.

Romney, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, has eradicated Obama’s 16-point edge with the female voter, according to a new Associated Press-Gfk poll. The president, on the other hand, has narrowed his lead with male voters.

In September, women preferred Obama over Romney on economic issues by a 56 to 40 percent margin. With 12 days until the election, Romney has shortened the gap with a nine point jump, leading 49 percent to 45 percent.

Also in the last month, Obama has lost ground with the female voter as the candidate who best understands the nation's problems, losing eight points while Romney gained seven percentage points.

The survey found Romney is now favored by 47 percent of likely voters; Obama by only 45 percent. By the same token, the prospect of an Obama re-election has dipped by five points; from 55 percent to 50.

"I'm ready for a change," Monica Jensen, 55, told Yahoo! News. "I want to see the economy go in a different direction."

Jensen, an independent from Mobile, Ala, said she voted for the president four years ago, but decided to give Romney the nod because of the economy.

While other voters are sticking with the president, David Bierwirth, who owns an autograph sales business in Las Vegas, said Romney has his vote because of the state of the economy.

"I want people back to work," he told Yahoo News, "because then they will buy my products."

The Associated Press-GfK poll was conducted Oct. 19-23 by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications. It was conducted via phone interviews with 1,186 adults nationwide, including 839 likely voters. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; for likely voters it is 4.2 points.