Conservatives Propel Rick Santorum to Top of National Poll

A national poll unveiled on Tuesday morning finds that Rick Santorum leads the pack of Republican presidential hopefuls looking to knock off Barack Obama in November.

Santorum takes 30 percent of a New York Times/CBS News poll of likely primary voters with Mitt Romney in second place with 27 percent. Ron Paul places third with 12 percent followed by Newt Gingrich with 10 percent. A New York Times/CBS News poll taken last month had Romney in front with 28 percent followed by Gingrich with 21 percent, Santorum with 16 percent and Paul with 15 percent.

The new poll finds that Santorum has rocketed to the top with the backing of conservatives. He takes 38 percent of conservatives followed by Romney with 24 percent, Gingrich with 12 percent and Paul with 5 percent. The poll last month had Romney and Gingrich each taking 25 percent of conservatives with Santorum on their heels with 24 percent and Paul with 10 percent.

The poll of 331 likely Republican primary voters was taken Feb. 8-13 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.