Mitt Romney leads rivals by 23 points in national poll

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a 23 percentage point lead over his closest rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, according to a Gallup survey of registered Republican voters nationwide. 

The tracking poll, taken between Jan. 11 and Jan. 15, shows Romney with 37 percent support. Tied for a distant second are former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 14 percent each, followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 12 percent support.

The survey showed Texas Gov. Rick Perry with 5 percent support and Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who dropped out of the race Monday and threw his support to Romney, with just two percent support.

Romney, the winner of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, has seen a steady, double-digit increase in national support since the January 3 caucuses. Gingrich, by contrast, has been in freefall, dropping from 37 percent support in December.

Santorum, who won the backing of a group of prominent social conservatives over the weekend, reached 18 percent support following his near-win in Iowa but has since dropped to 14 percent.

A new CNN/ORC International poll, also released Monday, showed Romney and Paul statistically tied with President Obama in a general election matchup. Mr. Obama was favored over Santorum by six points and over Gingrich by nine points. 

The survey, released ahead of this evening's GOP presidential debate in South Carolina, showed voters trust Romney more than the president on the economy: 53 percent say Romney could get the economy moving, compared to 40 percent for Mr. Obama.

On the question of who is in touch with ordinary Americans, however, Mr. Obama holds the edge: 53 percent say the president is in touch with ordinary Americans, compared to 41 percent for Romney.

Full CBS News coverage: Mitt Romney

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Mitt Romney on the trail

[Lindag10]

Romney reminds me of the "friend" (a raccoon) my cat brought home last evening and wanted me to let in the house. Let Romney be president he'll do just like a raccoon in your home, go through EVERYTHING you have, destroy your possessions and leave you with a huge mess to clean up. In reality I think I'd rather deal with the raccoon as it's just an animal and is acting on instinct rather than on PURPOSE.

[Middle_American_Man]

Magic underwear will be his undoing.

[vielmann]

If Romney wins the presidency, I hope he doesn't treat the country like one the companies he destroyed with debt and layoffs while he and his friends ran off with the money.

[jschmidt27]

He also helped create Staples. 4 companies out of 70 went under while he was at Bain.

[kevjustice]

WILLARD(his real first name) romney's favorite movie is......"willard". he likes to associate with wall street RATS! LOL!

[Tim_Elliott]

It's clear that the media wants another war.

CBS guys and gals, enlist please.

[RealiteBites]

That's weird how Gingrich is showing as more popular than Ron Paul - but yet state after state, Paul beats Gingrich.

Is Gingrich's support in some other states? Or is it that his 'supporters' don't like him enough to actually come out and bother to vote for him?

[taylorsucram]

Well the Republican Circus is down to 3 clowns and "it just ain't funny anymore"! The COP Christian Conservatives will never vote for a Mormon (they will stay home and vote with their feet). Americans will look at President Obama and the GOP nominee Romney and run SCREAMING TO THE POLLS TO RE-ELECT OBAMA.

Reagan = Savings & Loan debacle, Iran/Contra weapons for hostages.

Bush Jr. = 9/11 debacle, housing debacle, bank failure debacle and two unfunded wars along with the collapse of the American Auto Industry.

Romney = more of Bush with the same advisers, and these people called Obama an ELITIST!

Obama = Saved the Auto Industry, The Affordable Health Care Act, Ended the Iraq War and "got" Osama Bin Laden. WHO YOU GONNA VOTE FOR?

[jschmidt27]

Obama saved the UAW, to save the fire starting Volt and continue getting his campaign donations. The Healthcare act is result in higher medical costs, doctors leaving their practice and less services. Bush had planned the exit from Iraq before Obmama took office and the Bush also laid the intelligence groundwork in Afghanistan to get Bin Laden. Obama;s own policies have failed.

[JJHH3000]

The important thing for the American people is to get a nominee who will stand up to any amnesty for illegal invaders. How can any politician of any political stripe even think of allowing masses of foreigners to violate America's borders and get away with it. Unfortunately, he's not the only one like this, the idiot in the White House wants to give the invaders amnesty as well.

Immigration of every kind is destroying prospects for Americans in all job categories. Hi-tech workers might want learn more about the H1B1 visa scandal that is aimed at replacing skilled American workers with cheaper 3rd world immigrants.
It would be nice if our politicians and union leaders started standing up for the American people and stopped taking bribes from the immigration lobby to ignore this whole issue.

More information can be found at specialized websites like vdare.com and fairus.org

[unclebernies]

The facist's in the US Supreme court has done all they can to have a corporate hack get into the WH and Romney is their guy. It's ironic that a group called citizens united has done anything but unite. If you the top tier 1 percent than you are sure to be united.

[1988JAck]

Thank God, Obama is a shoe in!