President 2012 Poll Watch: Romney and Santorum Within Striking Distance of Obama in National Polling

U.S. registered voters are closely divided in their 2012 presidential election preferences between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and between Obama and Rick Santorum. Romney is slightly ahead of Obama, 50% to 46%, while Obama edges Santorum, 49% to 48%, but neither of these differences is statistically significant.

Santorum and Romney are the current leaders in the volatile Republican primary race. In Gallup Daily tracking conducted Feb. 17-21, 35% of Republican voters nationwide support Santorum, compared with 27% for Romney, 15% for Newt Gingrich, and 10% for Ron Paul.

Good news for the GOP since all of the good news coming out of D.C. lately has been about Obama and how his prospects have been improving. This polling, however, was done prior to the precipitous rise in gasoline prices and I suspect the next round of polling may even be better for the Republican challengers.

The next major campaign event after Wednesday night’s Republican debate in Arizona will be the Feb. 28 primaries in Michigan and Arizona. The results of those contests will affect the relative standing and images of Romney and Santorum, which could in turn affect their positioning against Obama in hypothetical trial heat match-ups. At the moment, however, both Republican candidates would find themselves in a close race with the president if the election were held today.