Poll Has Santorum Leading Romney Nationally

For the first time, the most socially conservative of the remaining candidates is leading the Republican field.

For the first time since the beginning of the wild and crazy race for the Republican presidential nomination, a poll has former senator Rick Santorum leading Mitt Romney – with a whopping 15-point margin. Before the details, the caveats: The poll was undertaken by a Democratic polling firm, Public Policy Polling. Also, it only contacted 658 Republican voters – not exactly a large sample size, meaning the chances of this being a "rogue poll" are substantially higher than one with a larger sample size. With that out of the way, the poll shows Santorum with 38 per cent support, Romney with just 23 per cent, and Newt Gingrich rounding out the top three with 17 per cent. That marks the first time that a major polling firm has found Santorum at the front of the pack, although at various stages during the race, everyone from Gingrich to Herman Cain to Rick Perry has held that position, and none of them have been able to solidify their gains. Of course, none of those candidates were able to win primaries and caucuses in three states in a week, which Santorum did. Likewise, none of those candidates questioned whether women where emotionally capable of serving in the armed forces or compared gay rights to 9/11, while Santorum most certainly did. Either way, if this poll's findings are at all borne out by other polls or in voting booths (Arizona and Michigan are set for Feb. 28), we could be in for a rocky ride well past Super Tuesday on March 6.