A new Public Policy Polling (D) survey shows that former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) does a bit better against President Obama in national matchup at the moment — Obama gets 49 percent to Santorum’s 44, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney only sees 42 percent support to Obama 49 nationally.
“One of Mitt Romney’s strongest arguments has always been that he would be the toughest GOP opponent for Barack Obama,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling in a release. “It no longer looks like that’s necessarily the case.”
Santorum is viewed more favorably by Americans than Romney by about ten points. They are both under water on the metirc — only 29 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Romney against 57 percent who see him in a negative light, versus a much closer 39 – 46 split for Santorum. That’s pretty big improvement for Santorum, who saw a 30 – 51 split on favorability in January and wasn’t even tested by PPP’s in December national poll. Romney was at 35 – 53 in January and 35 -50 in December, when he lead Obama in PPP’s national numbers.
The TPM Poll Average shows the President with a 6.9 percent lead on Romney currently.
Our average of the Obama–Santorum matchup shows the President with a 7.2 percent advantage at the moment.
