Presidential Polls 2012: Romney Ahead of Obama in Closely Contested Race

With less than three weeks to go until the Nov. 6 elections, President Obama is slightly ahead of Republican Mitt Romney, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Obama leads Romney by three points among likely voters, 49 percent to 46 percent. Among registered voters, the president is ahead of Romney by seven points, 51 percent to 44 percent.

According to Gallup tracking, Romney leads the president by seven points among likely voters, 52 percent to 45 percent. Romney has a slimmer lead over Obama among registered voters, 48 percent to 47 percent. Gallup has the president's approval rating at 50 percent and 44 percent for his disapproval.

According to Real Clear Politics, Romney leads Obama by 0.7 points, 47.6 to 46.9. Six months ago, Obama led Romney by more than three points.

A three day rolling national tracking poll by democratic leaning Public Policy Polling finds Obama leading Romney, 48 percent to 47 percent.

"Barack Obama appears to have received a small boost from his victory in the debate on Tuesday night," said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. "The question now is whether that will hold up as the debate fades from voters' minds."

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows Obama and Romney each attracting support from 48 percent of voters nationwide.

Americans will have a clearer picture of who's really ahead of who sometime next week.

The third and final debate in the battleground state of Florida is not expected to be a real game changer, but both candidates need to have an excellent night to keep the momentum going in the last two weeks of the race.

The debate will be solely based on foreign policy and Obama is expected to outshine Romney with his experience. However, Romney is expected to use the opportunity to condemn the Obama administration on its mishandling of the Libya attacks that killed four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stevens.