President Obama leads his Republican challenger Mitt Romney by at least seven points in two separate national polls released late Thursday.
"The polls are starting to really solidify a bit and not in Mitt Romney's favor," noted msnbc host Joe Scarborough Friday.
A CNN/ORC International poll showed Obama ahead of Romney 52% to 45%, a three point jump for the president from last month.
It also showed Romney's unfavorable rating jumping from 42% to 48% in the last month. Additionally, 68% of independents believe Romney favors the rich over middle class Americans. Independents favor the president 53% to 42% in the CNN poll.
A Fox News poll gave Obama an even wider berth over Romney with a nine point percentage (49% to 40%) lead. That's a five point jump for Obama from last month's Fox News poll when the president held a four-point lead over Romney.
"Nine points in August is tough," Scarborough added.
Fox attributed Obama's growing lead to a barrage of negative ads directed at Romney, and a continued increase in the number of independents crossing over for the president. Independents favor Obama by 11 points, the Fox poll found, while 30% of them remain undecided.