A new national poll of GOP candidates by Rasmussen Reports shows former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum leapfrogging into second place behind Mitt Romney.
Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, coming off his photo finish with Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses, is now in second place among Republican voters in the race for the party’s 2012 presidential nomination.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, taken the night after the caucuses, shows Romney again in first place with support from 29% of Likely Republican Primary Voters, followed by Santorum with 21%.
Newt Gingrich places third nationally with 16% of the vote.
Romney still holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire. The respected Suffolk poll shows a small shift toward Rick Santorum, as his support increased from 5% to 8% with Romney comfortably ahead with 41% and Ron Paul a distant second with 18%.
Will conservatives coalesce behind Santorum? There’s a lot of talk in conservative circles about Santorum’s love of earmarks and his “big government” conservatism. That may cause some on the right to hold off on their support. But it would seem probable — born out by the Rasmussen numbers — that the right’s distrust and dislike of Romney is so intense that any alternative to him will probably draw the majority of them to support that candidate.
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