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Polls suggest US President Barack Obama holds only a small, perhaps meaningless lead over Republican Mitt Romney in the race for the White House as he awaits a new jobs report on Friday.
With unemployment remaining high, Romney and Obama are running neck and neck with no sign that either can break away, as the race enters a final summer lull before the sprint to election day in November.
Both candidates are taking a break this week, which includes the Fourth of July holiday, with Romney at his lakeside compound in New Hampshire and Obama at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
"When it's a 2- or 3-point race, that's not good for an incumbent president," said Republican strategist Rich Galen. Galen believes that Obama's political career is dependent on Angela Merkel holding the eurozone together, referring to the German chancellor and Europe's financial woes, which could further hurt the US economy.
An eventful June began badly for Obama. Poor job creation numbers followed news that Romney's campaign was raising more money than his. Things got worse when Obama told reporters, "The private sector is doing fine," a line now featured in countless Republican attack ads. Obama was trying to contrast the private sector, which has seen steady but modest job growth, with the public sector, where budget cuts have led to layoffs of teachers, police officers and other government employees.
The month ended better for the Democratic president.
The Supreme Court struck down much of Arizona's strict anti-illegal immigration law, which his administration had opposed. Then the justices upheld Obama's signature healthcare overhaul last week.
Obama enjoyed a lead of 48 percent to 43 percent over Romney during the period of June 25 to July 1, according to a Gallup poll released on Monday.
The 5-point gap represents the largest lead for Obama among registered US voters since April, when he had a 7-point edge over Romney, the pollster said.
The current stretch of six days in which Obama led Romney in each day's average is also the longest such streak for the president since April, Gallup added.
Romney has not been ahead of Obama by more than 2 points since mid-May, and his largest lead of 5 points occurred in April.
Obama on Thursday is scheduled to start a two-day bus tour of Ohio and Pennsylvania, two crucial battleground states that could go either way in the state-by-state contests that decide the election.
About the broadcaster:
Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.