If the GOP race comes down to Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, is Romney still the most electable or most competitive against President Obama? This morning, Quinnipiac says that Romney still holds that advantage . . . but there’s not a huge difference.
The top Republican presidential challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, has 46 percent of registered voters to President Barack Obama’s 43 percent. If former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gets the GOP nomination, he scores 43 percent to President Obama’s 45 percent, the independent Quinnipiac University poll finds.
In Florida’s U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson has 41 percent, with 40 percent for his leading Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack.
The president has a solidly negative 42 – 54 percent job approval rating and Florida voters say 52 – 44 percent that he does not deserve a second term in the Oval Office.
“Florida is among the most important swing states in the country and if the election was today President Barack Obama would have difficulty winning its electoral votes,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
Quinnipiac also finds that a once-competitive GOP Senate primary doesn’t look competitive at all anymore:
In the U.S. Senate race, Congressman Mack gets 39 percent in the GOP primary, which is held in August. Mike McCalister and former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux are way behind with 6 percent each. No other candidate tops 2 percent. Another 42 percent are undecided.