Obama vs Romney Poll: Romney Did Not Get RNC Boost, And Obama May Not Get A DNC Jump

Will the Democratic National Convention help boost Barack Obama in the polls? Democrats are hoping that the president fairs than his Republican rival.

New polls show that the Republican National Convention didn't do that much to boost Mitt Romney in the polls. And if the RNC is any indication ... Obama may not get a DNC boost.

But there’s an even bigger take-away here that could be of solace to Dems: the Romney campaign has been considered an ad and spending machine … and the RNC was a lot of free, high-profile ad time … and it didn’t do much for Romney.

Ruh-roh.

Romney has left Tampa as the official Republican nominee, but without inspiring much change in voter preferences, according to the Gallup Daily tracking poll.

In the four days before the RNC, Romney edged Obama 47% to 46%. In the four days since, those numbers have flipped — a difference well within the margin of error.

Romney is the third candidate and the first Republican since 1964 to not receive a convention bounce in the Gallup Poll, putting him in the company of George McGovern and John Kerry. As Gallup's analysis notes, this could reflect a lack of enthusiasm for Romney, disinterest in this year's festivity, or simply the diminishing role that conventions play in the campaign cycle:

"Convention bounces are an expected part of each presidential campaign, so the fact that Romney did not receive one is surely a disappointment for his campaign and his supporters. However, with Americans' engagement in elections much higher earlier on in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 elections than in prior election years, conventions may no longer serve to introduce the nominees to Americans. Rather, Americans probably already have a good sense of who the nominees are and what they would do if elected president."

Romney's small bounce should relieve Democratic concerns about any possible Romney ad edge. Let’s make it a little simpler, though: Big Convention = Lots of Free Advertising ... but the numbers didn't move that much.

Still, Obama is facing his own polling problems. According to separate poll for The Hill, "a majority of voters believe the country is worse off today than it was four years ago and that Obama does not deserve re-election."

The Hill further reports:

Fifty-two percent of likely voters say the nation is in “worse condition” now than in September 2008, while 54 percent say Obama does not deserve reelection based solely on his job performance.Only 31% of voters believe the nation is in “better condition,” while 15% say it is “about the same,” the poll found. Just 40% of voters said Obama deserves reelection.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to properly cite language that was originally used without attribution to The Hill. We apologize to our readers for this violation of our basic editorial standards. Mic has put in place new mechanisms, including plagiarism detection software, to ensure that this does not happen in the future.