Rick Santorum has eclipsed front-runner Mitt Romney, a new national survey shows. According to the latest CBS News/New York Times Poll, the former Pennsylvania Senator has taken a 30-27 lead over Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul was next with twelve percent, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finished last at ten percent.
Once viewed to be a long shot, Santorum earned surprising victories in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado last week. In doing so, he may have replaced Gingrich as the candidate voters view as being the conservative alternative to Romney.
A fundraising email from the Santorum camp called for action, proclaiming “this is our time for the choosing.”
“Just like Ronald Reagan said at the Republican Convention in 1976, Conservatives must stand for something – even if our party establishment hesitates,” the email continued, defending his conservative platform against his moderate opponents ”Reagan said that we must have a ‘banner of bold, unmistakable colors, with no pale pastel shades’”.
According to a Rasmussen survey released over the weekend, Santorum was selected as the candidate most likely to beat President Obama if the election were held today.
The poll was conducted among 1,064 likely GOP voters between February 8-13 via telephone. The data was collected on both landlines and cell-phones, and surveyed voters who were likely to participate in the upcoming primary. The margin of error could be plus or minus three percentage points.
