NBC News/Marist poll Has Rick Santorum & Mitt Romney Virtual Tie in Battle Ground State of Ohio

A new Marist/NBC News poll just days ahead of Super Tuesday and the all important GOP Ohio Primary has the Buckeye state in a virtual tie between Rick Santorum and Mitt Tomney, 34% to 32%. The poll shows that a majority of likely GOP primary voters view Romney as the Republican candidate with the best chance of defeating President Obama in November 2012. By a 57%  to 36% margin likely GOP primary voters prefer electability over ideology.

Two days until Super Tuesday and the pivotal Ohio Republican presidential primary, Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are running neck and neck in the Buckeye State, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll conducted Feb. 29 – March 2.

Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, gets the support of 34 percent of likely GOP primary voters, and Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, gets 32 percent.

Full poll results can be seen HERE.

Another recent Rasmussen poll showed that Mitt Romney was closing fast in Ohio on Santorum. Momentum is obviously on the side of Romney heading into Ohio and Super Tuesday.

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GOP Presidential Primary: Mitt Romney Wins Washington State Caucuses

WASHINGTON STATE CAUCUS …

With 58% of the reporting, Mitt Romney leads with 36.3%, Ron Paul is in second with 24.6% , Rick Santorum is in third 24.5% with and Newt Gingrich is in fourth with 11.3%. CNN has projects the Washington state caucus for Mitt Romney.

CBS News has also called the race for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

With 3,866 of 6,785 precincts counted so far, Romney has 36 percent of the vote. Rep. Ron Paul and former Senator Rick Santorum are in a close race for second and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a distance fourth.

The state has 40 delegates at stake, but the caucus votes are technically non-binding. CBS News estimates the potential delegate breakdown based on results from the caucus process. Today’s caucuses are the start of a process in the state to award delegates to the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Caucus result totals can be seen at the the Washington State Republican Party’s Precinct Caucus website.

It would appear Romney has cruises to a rather easy victory in Washington state and has the momentum heading into Super Tuesday with five wins in a row; tonight’s  Washington state caucus win and  the recent victories in the Maine Caucus, Wyoming and  victories in Arizona and Michigan.

GOP Presidential Primary: Mitt Romney Sweeps Night, Victorious in Michigan and Arizona

ROMNEY WINS MICHIGAN AND ARIZONA PRIMARIES …

What was touted by many political pundits as a potential nightmare evening for Mitt Romney, in the end Romney won the primaries in both Michigan and Arizona. It was a runaway victory in Arizona; however, Michigan was a much closer race. But was it?Romney topped Santorum in AZ, 47% to 26%. Romney’s victory in Michigan over Santorum was a much closer tally at a 41% to 38% margin. But was it really that close in Michigan? Not really, as Democrats who voted in the GOP primary went for Santorum heavily. There is no way these folks would ever vote for a Republican against the GOP Presidential candidate.

Romney wins Michigan and Arizona by this much …

The victory by Mr. Romney in Arizona, which awarded him the state’s entire allotment of 29 delegates, was overshadowed by the battle in Michigan. He prevailed in the statewide popular vote by four percentage points, relying on large margins in the counties around Detroit where he spent his childhood, but the fight for delegates was closer.

Michigan awards its 30 delegates by Congressional district, which meant Mr. Santorum would either leave Michigan with nearly the same number as Mr. Romney or only slightly fewer. Mr. Santorum beamed when he took the stage before a cheering crowd in Grand Rapids and reminded his supporters of how far he had come.

Exit polls in Michigan say …

Just curious, if Obama won a state by a close margin, after having won so many in 2008 by a large margin … would the liberal MSM call the victory ugly? Of course not. If any one made such a comment, the liberal press would be posting articles that the GOP called Obama ugly.

In the end, a wins is a win and its onto the next state …

GOP Presidential Primary: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Endorses Mitt Romney

This morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Arizona Governor Jan Brewer endorsed Mitt Romney ahead on next week’s Arizona primary. Currently, Romney leads in the RCP average polling in Arizona by 10.7%. Arizona hosts its primary, along with Michigan, this coming Tuesday.

Brewer said she viewed Romney as the most electable candidate to challenge President Obama this fall, and that she made her conclusion after meeting with the candidates and after a debate this week in Arizona.

“I have decided that I am going to publicly endorse Mitt Romney. I think he’s the man that can carry the day,” Brewer said. “I think Mitt is by far the person who can go in and win.”

GOP Primary: Mitt Romney Back in the Lead Over Santorum in Michigan … What a difference a Debate Makes

What a difference a debate makes as a front runner …

Just a week ago GOP primary Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum had a lead in Michigan and everyone was talking about Romney’s campaign being in jeopardy if he lost his home state of Michigan. Then there was the woeful debate by Santorum as the front runner where he failed to wow anyone.

The result … Mitt Romney is back on top in Michigan and pulling away. According to the most recent Rasmussen poll in Michigan, Romney leads with 40%, followed by Santoum with 34% while Paul and Gingrich bring up the rear. What a difference a week and a bad debate by Santorum makes. The previous Rasmussen poll had Santorum in the lead over Romney 38% to 34%. Santorum’s bad debate was Romney’s gain.  As reported at The Hill, Romney turned in a strong performance in a pivotal GOP debate on Wedesday in Arizona as it was the first debate in which Romney and Santorum were the clear central figures, and Santorum was battered by attacks from Paul and Romney over his record as a senator in Pennsylvania.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters in Michigan shows Romney with 40% of the vote and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum with 34%. The poll was conducted on Thursday night, following the last scheduled debate among the GOP candidates. (To see survey question wording, click here)

Nate Silver also projects that Romney will be victorious in Michigan.

The FiveThirtyEight forecast model now projects a win for Mr. Romney by about four points in Michigan, roughly bisecting the Rasmussen Reports and Mitchell Research polls. Although that is inherently a fairly small margin, it is more meaningful given that there are just four full days of campaigning until Michigan votes; the model makes Mr. Romney about a 2:1 favorite in the state.

Mitt Romney also appears to be pulling away in Arizona as well.