President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Santorum SURGES to Catch Romney

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are now statistically tied for the lead in Republican registered voters’ preferences for the 2012 GOP nomination — 32% to 30%, respectively. Newt Gingrich, who led the field as recently as late January, is now third, favored by 16%, while Ron Paul’s support has dwindled to 8%, the lowest level yet seen for him in 2012.

These results are based on Gallup Daily tracking from Feb. 8-12 — the first Gallup tracking period conducted wholly after Santorum’s sweep of the Feb. 7 state nominating contests.

Santorum’s 14-point surge in support since just before Feb. 7, from 16% to 30%, appears to have come at the expense of all of his major opponents. Support for Romney and Gingrich has declined by five and six percentage points, respectively, over the same period, and support for Paul, by three points. The percentage unsure has increased slightly, from 11% to 13%.

It looks like Republican voters are turning to Rick Santorum as the anti-Romney conservative candidate.

And, this poll is bad news for Mitt Romney as it is readily apparent that a majority of GOP voters just don’t want him as the Republican nominee.

Plus, it looks like it is over for Newt Gingrch unless he can make a substantial come back on Super Tuesday in March.

My hope is still for a “brokered convention” with a better candidate, like Governor Mitch Daniels or Bobby Jindal winning the nomination.