Romney Leads in Florida by 7

A new poll by the Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/Miami Herald released a few hours shows Romney leading in Florida by 7 points. Romney has 51% to the president's 44%. The polling was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, a well known national polling firm. A month ago the same poll showed Obama leading 48% to 47%. Internals show that 5% of the shift came from undecided voters and 2% came from voters who favored Obama before last weeks debate.

"There's no question in my mind that debate made people stand up and pay attention, and it really wiped away any questions people had about Romney, whether they were undecided or soft for Obama," said Brad Coker of Mason-Dixon.

Obama's lead among likely women voters in Florida fell from 15 percentage points last month to just 2 points, 49 percent for Obama and 47 percent for Romney. Obama's once 11 point lead among likely independent voters had cascaded into a 13 point lead for Romney this week, 52 percent to 39 percent.