The latest Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney by 10 percentage points (49 to 39 percent) and leading Rick Santorum by 7 percentage points (48 to 41 percent). The poll was taken yesterday — on George Washington’s Birthday — mostly before the GOP debate. Obama’s 10-point margin matches his largest lead over Romney in the 53 head-to-head polls that Rasmussen has conducted over the past 13 months.
Meanwhile, Quinnipiac’s polling, taken from February 14th to 20th, shows Obama leading Romney by 2 points (46 to 44 percent) and leading Santorum by 3 points (47 to 44 percent). However, Quinnipiac also shows Santorum with a higher net favorability rating both overall (+3) and among independents (+3) than Romney has, as Romney’s net favorability is minus-8 overall and is also minus-8 among independents. The former Massachusetts governor’s net favorability rating has dropped 13 points in Quinnipiac (from +5 to minus-8) since Thanksgiving week.
Quinnipiac also asked respondents whether they think each candidate “cares about the needs and problems of people like you.” By a margin of 10 points (46 to 36 percent), respondents said that, yes, Santorum does care. However, only 40 percent said that Romney cares, while 50 percent said he doesn’t.
