The race for the White House appears to be “extraordinarily competitive” as reflected through the opinion polls that have flooded in the past few days, even as both Obama and Romney campaigns continued to assert that they are on their way to victory.

President Barack Obama resumed his election campaign yesterday, which he had halted on Monday in view of the Hurricane Sandy, and is scheduled to address nearly a dozen-and-a-half election rallies in the remaining five days.

His Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, too went into a full-fledged campaign mode and back in offence against Obama, after a two day break from the campaign.

As both Obama and Romney continued to lash at each other, their campaigns continued to assert that the momentum is on their side, but the latest polls had only indicated that this is heading to a close finish.

“The race for the White House remains steadily and extraordinarily competitive in its final days, with President Obama and Mitt Romney continuing to run neck-and-neck” said The Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll.

“In the latest release, 49 per cent of likely voters across the country back Obama, 48 per cent his Republican challenger,” the poll said, adding that it is an identical 49 to 48 per cent looking across eight states identified as “tossups” by The Washington Post.

“This is a close race,” the daily reported.

While RealClearPolitics on Thursday said that Obama is now leading by just 0.1 point in this closely watched average of national polls; Rasmussen Reports said that Romney is leading by two points.

Polls in most of the battleground states, which would finally determine the winner of November 6 elections, did not help the political analysts either; with almost all the leads within the margin of statistical either.

According to a CNN/ORC International poll, 50 per cent of likely voters in Colorado support Obama, with 48 per cent backing Romney. The president’s two-point margin is well within the survey’s sampling error, the CNN said.

Republican pollster Wenzel Strategies said that Romney now has the lead in Ohio (49 to 46 per cent) and trails narrowly in Wisconsin (49 to 47 per cent), The Hill reported.

The Fox News poll released late Wednesday showed Obama and Romney tied with 47 per cent support each.

According to The New York Times, in the last three weeks, polls — including by ABC/Washington Post, Gallup, Politico/George Washington University and Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS — have consistently found that more Americans expect Obama to win than expect Romney to win.

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