Romney's Gold Medal - Poll: Romney best against Obama,leads Obama by 2 with Indep.; frontrunner in GOP '12 primary

(GOP12,prnewswire).In a new poll conducted by the Clarus Research Group, Barack Obama continues to best hypothetical challengers in a 2012 matchup, although his numbers fall below 50% against two opponents.

1. Barack Obama 47% Mitt Romney 38%

2. Barack Obama 48% Mike Huckabee 38%

3. Barack Obama 52% Newt Gingrich 34%

4. Barack Obama 53% Sarah Palin 34%

"The fact that Obama falls below 50 percent against two possible Republican opponents should be troubling for him," said Ron Faucheux, president of Clarus Research Group. "It also shows that the electorate is increasingly divided on Obama, with significant partisan polarization." The president's standing among swing voters has eroded since November, 2008, when exit polling showed he defeated John McCain 52 percent to 44 percent among independents.

According to the new Clarus poll, among independent voters Romney beats Obama by two points, 42 percent to 40 percent, and Huckabee beats the president by one point, 41 percent to 40 percent.On the other hand, both Newt and Palin handily lose to Obama with the critical voting bloc. Obama's up +8% against Newt and +15% against Sarah.

As for the 2012 nomination*:

1. Mitt Romney 30%

2. Mike Huckabeee 22%

3. Sarah Palin 19%

4. Newt Gingrich 15%

5. Bobby Jindal 4%