New polling by Public Policy Polling has for the first time a GOP candidate other than Mitt Romney faring better in a hypothetical matchup with Barack Obama.
Rick Santorum, riding the wave of a string of victories in Republican presidential contests last week, has for now the mantle of “most electable” Republican candidate, according to numbers released by PPP on Tuesday.
Santorum trails Obama in a head-to-head matchup 49 percent to 44 percent. Romney, long perceived to be the most electable GOP contender, trails Obama 49 percent to 42 percent.
As GOP voters have switched preferences between Romney, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann and now Santorum, Romney had maintained the position as the Republican who would fare best against Obama.
A key to that: Santorum has better net favorability than Romney. Among all voters, Santorum is at -7 points (39 percent favorable, 46 percent unfavorable), while Romney is at -28 points (29 percent favorable, 57 percent unfavorable). Among Republican voters, Santorum is an impressive +40 (62 percent favorable/22 percent unfavorable), while Romney is just +2 (43 percent favorable/41 percent unfavorable).
Also of interest: Santorum holds up better against Obama with independents, trailing the president by four points among independents, while Romney trails Obama by nine points among independents.
More from PPP at www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/02/romneys-electability-argument-weakening.html.
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