CBS/NYT poll: Romney 47, Obama 46

A respite from Mitt Romney's bad week comes in the form of a CBS/New York Times poll, showing him ahead by a nose in an awfully close race:

Forty-seven percent of registered voters nationwide who lean towards a candidate back Romney, while 46 percent support the president. Four percent are undecided. The one percentage point difference is within the survey's three point margin of error. … Fifty-four percent of registered voters cite the economy and jobs as "extremely" important in their presidential vote, more than any other issue. Here Romney has the edge: 49 percent of registered voters say he would do a better job handling the economy and jobs, while 41 percent cite Mr. Obama. Romney is also seen as better on the federal budget deficit (50 percent to 36 percent), taxes (47 percent to 42 percent) and illegal immigration (46 percent to 38 percent). Mr. Obama as seen as better on foreign policy (47 percent to 40 percent) and social issues (48 percent to 37 percent). Views of the candidates on health care and terrorism were split.

The poll is one of the better results for Romney lately (though it's really not all that different from the Washington Post/ABC poll that had the candidates tied at 47 percent.) The survey has an eyebrow-raisingly bad favorability number for Obama: 36 percent of registered voters viewed him favorably, versus 48 percent who viewed him unfavorably. For Romney, those numbers were 32 percent favorable, 38 percent unfavorable. Favorability is one category where Obama has typically fared better than his opponent.

The obvious takeaway from the poll, as with most polls lately, is that this remains a pretty stable race where the top lines are concerned. To the extent that there's movement below the surface, most surveys have shown Romney's image deteriorating and Obama's economic numbers staying shaky. The CBS/NYT are better than average for Romney in that respect.