A new snap poll from Rasmussen shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney retaking a large lead in the national GOP primary race after his popular vote win in the Michigan Republican primary and overall victory in Arizona. Romney gets 40 percent of Republicans nationwide, while former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) has dropped back to 24 percent. Two weeks ago, Santorum had a 39 – 27 lead in Rasmussen’s numbers, moving up based on his wins in the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses, along with Missouri’s non-binding primary on February 7th. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 16 percent and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) sees 12 in the new numbers.
Like Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Gingrich before him, Santorum emerged as the leading anti-Romney candidate, took the lead nationally but now appears unable to hold on to it. Like the others, he has stumbled in the media glare of front-runner status.
Three-out-of-four likely GOP primary voters nationwide (75%) now think Romney will win the party’s nomination. That’s up 11 points from two weeks ago and back to the level measured in early February. Just 12% believe Santorum will be the eventual nominee.
Perhaps part of the explanation for Romney’s return to the top is the finding that despite conservative dissatisfaction with him, 55% of primary voters think it’s more important to choose a candidate who has the best chance of beating President Obama than it is to choose one who does the best job of representing GOP values. Thirty-eight percent (38%) put more emphasis on a candidate who best represents the party’s values.
The TPM Poll Average of all public polling shows that Romney has recovered the national lead. Here’s the trend since the first votes of the GOP primary.
