Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Santorum and Romney neck and neck in Ohio: Mitt Romney is leading Rick Santorum by a hair in Ohio 37% to 36% in the latest Public Policy Polling survey out Monday morning. Newt Gingrich has 15% for Gingrich and Ron Paul has 11%. Romney looks stronger when you take into account that late-deciding voters are breaking for Romney 40% to Santorum’s 28%. He also has an edge among early voters, meaning he heads into election day with a lead.
- Santorum still ahead in Tennessee: The latest Public Policy Polling survey shows Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney 34% to 29%, with Newt Gingrich close behind at 27% and just 8% for Ron Paul. Santorum’s lead, which includes an edge among early voters, may sustain him, but Romney is steadily closing in on Santorum and the momentum is on his side. An American Research Group poll Sunday showed Santorum ahead 35%-31%.
- Gingrich is way up in Georgia: Newt Gingrich leads in Georgia with almost twice the voters as his nearest rival. According to Public Policy Polling, Gingrich has 47%, Romney has 24%, Santorum is in a close third with 19%, and 8% for Paul.
- Obama leads Romney by 6 points nationally: A new WSJ/NBC News poll shows President Obama would defeat Mitt Romney 50%-44% in a match-up today. The poll revealed that the GOP primary has been damaging for the party, with one pollster calling it “corrosive.”
- New Quinnipiac Ohio poll out Monday morning: Quinnipiac will release a final Ohio poll on the GOP field at 8am Monday morning.
- Obama to meet with Netanyahu: President Obama will sit down for a one-on-one meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Sunday, after Obama’s speech at AIPAC rebutting his critics on Israel policy, Romney said, “If Barack Obama gets re-elected, Iran will have a nuclear weapon and the world will change if that’s the case.”
- Democratic strategist warns Dems not to get too confident: Veteran political strategist Paul Begala warns Democrats that even though they have seen Republicans suffer in February, not to count on an easy Obama victory.
- Santorum campaigns in Ohio: As of the latest schedule, Rick Santorum will spend of the rest of the time leading up to Super Tuesday holding rallies around Ohio.
- Romney campaigns in Ohio and Massachusetts: Mitt Romney will spend Monday holding two events in Ohio before returning to his home state of Massachusetts, which is also a Super Tuesday state. Romney will watch election returns Tuesday night from Boston.
- Newt and Callista make 5-day swing through multiple states: Newt and Callista Gingrich are beginning a week-long tour through the South and Midwest. They begin Monday in Tennessee and Kentucky, appear in Georgia and Alabama on Super Tuesday. The rest of the week he’ll be in Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas.
