To: calgal  who wrote (59412 ) 11/2/2012 4:01:25 AM From: calgal     Read Replies (1)  | Respond to    of 59480  	            		                                                        Washington Secrets                                             			On cue, whites, independents, evangelicals swing to Romney  			  				 					November 1, 2012 | 12:11 pm    					 3Comments 				  			  		     			                                                                                                                                                                        Paul Bedard                                          Washington Secrets                                                                     The Washington Examiner                                                                                    @SecretsBedard                                                                                				      Popular in Politics                Albright raps 'disgusting Serbs' in Prague book signing   Crucial early votes for Obama lagging in Ohio stronghold   Byron York: In Ohio, Romney battles Obama -- and the polls   RNC pushes 6 states to fix machines that give Romney votes to Obama   Obama: Tea Party attitude in Washington needs to go                                                            			                                                                     				Further proof that Republican challenger  Mitt Romney appears to be peaking at the right time, a new poll finds  that he is finally winning the backing of evangelical voters, whites and  independents.    				 				John Zogby of  JZ Analytics   told Secrets that the result is a race so close that it is poised to  challenge the 2000 Al Gore-George W. Bush election as the tightest. In  that election, Gore won the popular vote but Bush the Electoral Vote and  the presidency.  "The election is tracking almost exactly like  Gore vs. Bush," he said. "Just when the key states look like a trend, it  stops. Romney was building up to a three point lead, but the first real  sampling after Hurricane Sandy showed a trend back to Obama."  But in a significant boon for Romney, the  latest polling by Zogby found that key groups Romney needs to challenge  Obama in the close race are coming home to their Republican roots.  Evangelical Christians, for example, have  awakened and are joining Romney, said Zogby. "He has made substantial  gains among evangelicals in the past week, hitting the necessary 70  percent just yesterday," said Zogby.  Also, white voters are breaking for Romney in  bigger numbers than in the past. He now has the support of 57 percent of  whites in the NewsmaxZogby poll, but the pollster said he still needs  more to seal the deal.  Independents are also getting behind Romney.  Zogby said that Romney has opened up a 9-point lead among independents. A  Romney campaign source said they hope to win independents "by double  digits" in Ohio.  And significantly for Obama, the president is underperforming among young voters, especially young women, said Zogby.  His polling also reveals that the two are  "about even" with early voters, and while Romney leads among "definite  voters," the president has a double-digit lead among "very likely"  voters. The big question, said Zogby: "We will have to see if the 'very  likelies' come out to vote."