Whether or not it will be sustained until the November general election remains to be seen, but Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney appears to the recipient of a bit of a surge in the polls in the key battleground states Florida and Ohio. Here's a closer look at what the latest polls are showing in those two crucial states:
* Ohio -- Before Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate on Aug. 10 the polls in the Buckeye State clearly favored President Barack Obama. A We Ask America poll conducted on July 27, for example, game Obama nearly an eight-point lead over Romney in the state, 48 to 40 percent. Meanwhile a Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll, also conducted in late July, gave Obama a solid six-point lead over Romney in the state. A Quinnipiac poll from late June had even given Obama a nine-point lead over Romney in Ohio.
The two most recent polls, both conducted entirely after Romney's announcement of Ryan as his vice presidential candidate, show a clear surge for the Republican ticket. A Purple Strategies survey released on Aug. 15 gives Romney a two-point, 46 to 44 percent, lead over Obama. And a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Aug. 14 puts the two candidates in a dead heat, both with 45 percent.
* Florida - The Sunshine State might just be the biggest battle of all the battleground states this election cycle. The polls in Florida have gone back and forth in favor of each candidate for the past year, and there's no reason to believe that any one action will prove decisive in the state for either candidate. But the first two post-Ryan polls in Florida do favor Romney, however slightly.
The Purple Strategies polls conducted on Aug. 15 gives Romney a single-point lead over Obama, 48 to 47 percent in Florida. Meanwhile, a Rasmussen Reports survey release on Aug. 16 offers a similarly slim lead for Romney, 45 to 43 percent. Just weeks ago, in late July, the Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS News poll indicated a six-point lead for Obama in Florida, 51 to 45 percent. And a SurveyUSA poll released on July 20 gave Obama a five-point advantage on Romney, 48 to 43 percent.