A new CNN national poll shows that 68 percent of Republican voters think former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will be the party’s nominee in November. Fifty-five percent say he’d be their best choice to beat President Obama. But only 32 percent actually want to vote for him, given the current GOP choices available.
Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) leads the Repubican field in the new CNN poll with 34 percent, the fourth national poll that he’s led in the last four days. Santorum had the lead in a Public Policy Polling survey released Saturday, Pew numbers from Monday, and a CBS News/New York Times poll out Tuesday morning. In the CNN numbers, Romney gets second with 32 percent, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) sees 16, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at 15.
“The new numbers indicate a split in the Republican party that goes deeper than ideology, with signs of a gender gap and class warfare breaking out in the GOP ranks,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
…the poll also indicates that Santorum’s surge is also the product of a notable gender gap, with Santorum holding a 10-point edge among Republican men and Romney winning Republican women by nine points. And Republicans who describe themselves as blue collar are backing Santorum by 11 points over Romney. But among those who say they come from white collar families, Romney has a 10-point advantage.
The TPM Poll Average shows Santorum capitalizing on the mometum, leading the field by less than a point.
