RomBama (image: Ars Skeptica / flickr)

President Obama continues to lead Mitt Romney in the two biggest swing states, Florida and Ohio, according to a new Quinnipiac/CBS/NYT poll. With a combined 47 electoral votes between them, it will be very difficult for Romney to possibly win without beating Obama in at least one of them.

The poll also found that Obama maintains his lead over Romney in Wisconsin but it shrank since Romney selected Wisconsin native Paul Ryan to be his running mate. Obama went from a six point lead in the state earlier this month to only a two point lead. This makes it the second poll indicating Ryan has, so far, been a small but noticeable help for Romney in the state. From Quinnipiac:

  • Florida: Obama at 49 percent to Romney’s 46 percent, compared to Obama’s 51 – 45 percent lead August 1;
  • Ohio: Obama edges Romney 50 – 44 percent, unchanged from August 1;
  • Wisconsin: Obama at 49 percent to Romney’s 47 percent, compared to Obama’s 51 – 45 percent lead August 8.

The small benefit Ryan offers Romney in Wisconsin may only be short lived or countered by the damage he will eventually do to the ticket elsewhere thanks to Medicare. The poll found that Ryan’s plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program is incredibly unpopular in these key swing states. In all three states, by roughly a two to one margin voters want to keep Medicare as it is instead of turning it into a voucher program.

In senior citizen heavy Florida, 62% of likely voters want to keep Medicare the same and only 28 percent want to turn it into a system where seniors get a fixed amount of money to buy private insurance. In Ohio, it is 64% to 27% for keeping Medicare the same; and in Wisconsin it is 59% to 32%.