President Barack Obama leads former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney 46% – 43% nationally, with 3% choosing another candidate and 8% not sure, according to a recent national poll.

The poll was conducted by Merriman River Group Research, on September 24 – 27, 2012. A nationally representative sample of 981 registered voters was surveyed using automated, “IVR“ technology. The sampling margin of error is +/-3.1%.

One of the most interesting take-aways from the poll? Voters with sidewalks favor Obama by 15%, while those without sidewalks favor Romney by 17%. Pollsters tested a theory floated by Nate Silver of The New York Time’s FiveThirtyEight blog that places with sidewalks tended to vote Democratic while those without sidewalks tended to vote Republican.

The first of three presidential debates is taking place tonight (Wednesday, October 3). President Obama and Romney will square off starting at 9PM Eastern time. The debate will be broadcast on all major networks.

- InsideMedford.com