With just two weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich clings to a four-point lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a national Gallup poll.
The latest
Gallup tracking data among registered Republican voters today shows Gingrich with 28 percent support, down by 1 percent, over Romney, whose GOP ballot support was unchanged at 24 percent.
Gingrich’s lead is the smallest since Gallup began daily tracking of national Republican nomination preferences this month. Pollsters have pointed to political rivals’ increasing attacks against Gingrich in debates, on the campaign trail, and in television ads as a likely reason for the decline.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul followed with 10 percent, while Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota picked up a 1 percent gain for 8 percent of the GOP ballot.
Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Rick Perry also picked up 1 percent for a total of 6 percent GOP ballot support, followed by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum with 4 percent, and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, trailing the field with 2 percent.
Gingrich has drawn particularly high support from older Republicans and core identifiers with the Republican Party, according to an analysis Gallup released last week. The analysis noted that about 40 percent of Republicans 55 and older, as well as core Republicans and conservatives, back Gingrich.
Based on interviews with 1,665 Republicans and Republican-leaning registered voters between Dec. 5 and 11, Gingrich also leads Romney among those 35 to 54 years old while Romney had a slight edge against Gingrich and Paul among voters aged 18 to 34.
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.