| Poll | Date | Sample | MoE | Santorum | Romney | Gingrich | Paul | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RCP Average | 2/6 - 2/13 | -- | -- | 30.8 | 29.2 | 16.2 | 12.7 | Santorum +1.6 |
| CNN/Opinion Research | 2/10 - 2/13 | 478 A | 4.5 | 34 | 32 | 15 | 16 | Santorum +2 |
| Gallup Tracking | 2/9 - 2/13 | 1200 RV | 4.0 | 30 | 32 | 16 | 8 | Romney +2 |
| CBS News/NY Times | 2/8 - 2/13 | 331 RV | 5.0 | 30 | 27 | 10 | 12 | Santorum +3 |
| Pew Research | 2/8 - 2/12 | 552 RV | 5.0 | 30 | 28 | 17 | 12 | Santorum +2 |
| PPP (D) | 2/9 - 2/10 | 656 RV | 3.8 | 38 | 23 | 17 | 13 | Santorum +15 |
| FOX News | 2/6 - 2/9 | 407 RV | 5.0 | 23 | 33 | 22 | 15 | Romney +10 |
At the link is a graphic that depicts how each candidate; Perry, Cain, Gringrich have pulled ahead only to fall back. The question becomes how will Santorum fair in this regard? I'm not sure what the final outcome will be but so far no one has been able to get solid footing with the voters and hold onto it.
“Three Reasons Santorum Will Lose Against Obama
First, His views on libertarians: Rick Santorum has said he hates the “radical individualism” of libertarianism and will do anything to keep it out of the conservative movement. Ron Paul voters and some tea party folks are going to be hard pressed to hear that. They’ll probably support likely libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, a popular two term former New Mexico governor over a one term senator who lost his re-election bid by 18 points. Libertarians have to become part of our coalition or we start losing elections. We don’t have to embrace everything they stand for, just like the mainstream conservative movement doesn’t accept all of neoconservatism or any other strain of conservatism, but we’ve got to recognize, in some ways, they’re right and we’ve got enough commonalities that building a coalition at this point is actually an incredibly positive thing, especially as more younger voters with right-leaning views will probably subscribe to aspects of libertarianism, as it allows for more liberal social views even though younger voters tend to be more pro-life.
Next is his “big government conservatism”. It’s not just his past views, Santorum thinks the progressive income tax system is “just fine” and said he is “proud” of his earmarks. No bueno. I also haven’t heard any compelling reforms from him regarding Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. I don’t think Santorum has a good grasp of how dire our fiscal situation is. If he did, he would want to save wherever he could. Saying “earmarks are just fine” and the “real problem is entitlements” without offering any meaningful entitlement reform proposals is like an irresponsible family in the midst of a fiscal crisis coming together and saying “spending money on fast food isn’t the problem, it’s that we buy a flat screen TV every month that’s the problem.” Santorum is clearly out of his depth here, people like him because of his social views.
Finally, speaking of His social views, they are extreme and way out of the mainstream. I say that as a pretty socially conservative person myself. People thought Stephanopolus was nuts for asking about contraception, but if you look at what Santorum said as late as last year, you will see why. He believes states should be able to ban contraception and that he thinks contraception is bad because it leads to people doing “immoral” things sexually. See this is where I think Santorum takes it too far: unless a person is being harmed or an animal is being treated inhumanely (you’ll see why I had to say that in a second), it’s none of the government’s business what one does in the privacy of their own bedroom. Santorum’s rhetoric on gays is also way over the top. Comparing gays to pedophiles and people who have sex with animals is WAY out of line, and it will turn off a lot of people. Look, it’s not bad to have a moral objection to homosexual behavior. For some it is a matter of deep faith. But last I checked, Jesus didn’t attach any conditions to “love thy neighbor”. I am not saying that we should condone anything, but it’s not our place to condemn anything either. Santorum seems to believe it’s his job to “pastor” the nation. That is not his job, his job should he be elected is to be the president of everyone.”
http://www.redstate.com/joshleguern/2012/02/13/three-reasons-santorum-will-lose-against-obama/