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Romney, who would be the first Mormon president if he wins the election, sat smiling with his wife, Ann, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lauded his performance at the convention.

“To be honest the convention was pretty good for Romney,” said Clark. “I think one of the big tests of the Republican convention was to make him more of a human, make him a little more personable, make him more likable. I think they succeeded there.”

There has been no real movement in terms of candidate perceptions on any substantive policy areas such as healthcare, or even on which candidate is better in protecting American jobs. This underlines the notion that conventions are about style rather than substance, Clark said.

The poll suggested voters are waiting to hear what Obama has to say about the most pressing issue of the campaign, the U.S. economy.

Seventy-six percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track and 73% have a similar belief about jobs, the survey showed.

On the president’s signature issue of his first term, healthcare, 62% believe the healthcare system is on the wrong track. Obama led an overhaul in 2010 of the U.S. healthcare system that Republicans deeply opposed.

Interest in the political conventions is high. The poll found 82% of registered voters have seen, heard or read at least something about the Republican convention.

But this dropped to 73% among independents and 66% among non-aligned registered voters, those who are undecided about how to vote or who say they will not vote.

This suggests that the groups candidates most need to target are not yet engaging with the electoral process, Clark said.

The rolling poll measures sentiment during the two-week convention season by polling over the previous four days.

For the survey, a sample of 1,441 American registered voters was interviewed online. The precision of the Reuters/Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points for all respondents.