President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are tied nationally, according to a poll released Sunday morning by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal. They each claim 47 percent among likely voters, and Obama leads 49 percent to Romney's 44 percent among registered voters.

The poll is an improvement for Romney, who was behind Obama, 46 percent to 49 percent, in the NBC/WSJ polls at the end of September, before the first debate. "Looking at some of the most important demographic groups, Romney leads among men (53 percent to 43 percent), Obama is up with women (51 percent to 43 percent) and they are essentially tied among voters in the Midwest," NBC's FirstRead Blog wrote.

The poll was conducted Wednesday through Saturday -- after the second debate -- among 1,000 registered voters and 816 likely voters, with a margin of error of 3.4 percent.

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