Staff Report
With the Iowa caucuses just six days away, the latest poll is good news for Mitt Romney and bad news for Newt Gingrich. It also shows a bit of a surge for Rick Santorum, who now leads the second tier of candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination – particularly among evangelical Christians drawn to his clear and consistent positions on such issues as abortion and same-sex marriage.
A CNN/Time/ORC International Poll Wednesday finds these results among Republicans who say they’re likely to participate in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses: Romney 25 percent, Ron Paul 22 percent, Rick Santorum 16 percent, Gingrich 14 percent, Rick Perry 11 percent, Michele Bachmann 9 percent, and Jon Huntsman 1 percent.
The three-point spread between Romney and Paul is within the survey’s margin of error, so the two can legitimately claim to be front-runners.
Romney and Paul are each up five points among likely caucus goers from a CNN/Time/ORC poll conducted at the start of December, reports CNN.
