Mitt Romney leads President Obama by 8 among independents [NJ-United Technologies, 10/2]: The poll of likely voters showed that "Romney led ... among independents, 49 percent to 41 percent..."

Americans split on whether Obama admin. is helping them "get ahead" [NJ-Allstate, 10/3]: When asked if they think the Obama administration's actions have increased or decreased opportunities to get ahead, 36 percent of Americans say increased. The same number say decreased.

About half say Obama handled job creation "as well as he could" [Yahoo!-Esquire, 10/3]: Forty-nine percent of Americans say Obama did "as well as he could" on job creation. Forty-five percent say he "mismanaged" the task. A remaining 5 percent have "no opinion."

Romney, Obama essentially tied up in swing states Virginia and Florida [NBC-WSJ, 10/2]: "In Florida, Obama leads 47 percent to 46 percent... And in Virginia, Obama is up 48 percent to 46 percent."

Obama still lags behind Romney on economy [Gallup, 10/3]: "Overall, 50% say the economy will be better if Romney is elected and 35% worse, for a net score of +15. Obama's net score on the same question is +8, with 48% predicting the economy would be better in four years if he is re-elected and 40% saying it will be worse."

The horse race [RCP average, 10/3]: An average of national polls shows Obama leading Romney 49.1 to 46 percent.