Mitt Romney may have hit a speed bump in last night’s South Carolina debate, but a slew of national polls show him pulling away from the rest of the field:

• Fox News has Romney at 40%, up 25 points over second place Rick Santorum.
• Gallup has Romney at 37%, up 25 points over Santorum.
• Washington Post/ABC News has Romney at 36%, up 20 points over Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
• CNN has Romney at 34%, up 16 points on Gingrich.

And that same CNN poll has Romney tied with President Obama in a general election match up. No other candidate, other than Paul, does as well against Obama. Since South Carolina became the first primary in the South, Republicans there have consistently voted for the establishment candidate. With Romney pulling away nationally, it is hard to see how South Carolina will buck this trend.

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