A new poll in South Carolina shows former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney opening up a big lead, but former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum is catching on quickly in the Palmetto State.
The CNN//Time/Opinion Research poll shows Romney at 37 percent followed by Santorum at 19 percent and former House speaker Newt Gingrich at 18 percent.
That’s a huge change from a month ago, when Gingrich led Romney 43 percent to 20 percent in South Carolina and Santorum was at just 4 percent.
Rounding out the poll are Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 12 percent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 5 percent and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman at 1 percent.
The CNN/Time poll suggests a post-New Hampshire race shaping up between the establishment candidate (Romney) and the conservative favorite (Santorum).
Of course, Santorum’s rise appears to be attributable almost wholly to his strong second-place showing in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday. A full-scale review of his record has begun and will determine what kind of staying power he has in the top-tier.
South Carolina’s primary will be held Jan. 21, 11 days after Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, in which Romney is the prohibitive favorite.
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