Two polls released Wednesday offered a snapshot of the current state of the 2012 presidential race, as President Barack Obama continues to struggle with voters and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota is increasingly becoming the alternative for conservative Republicans wary about front-runner Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

A McClatchy-Marist poll found that Obama couldcount on only 36 percent who will definitely vote for him in 2012, as opposed to 43 percent of voters who said they would definitely vote against the president.

Noted political pundit Dick Morris has launched his own polling company and took a poll of 700 likely Republican primary voters on June 18-19. The poll had former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts out in front of the pack with 23 percent. Like a number of recent polls, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann placed second but she was tied with a congressional colleague -- U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Bachmann and Paul each stood at 12 percent. There was a three-way tie for fourth between former U.S.

While a fellow Minnesotan, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, is garnering the headlines and momentum in the Republican presidential contest in Iowa, home of the first caucus contest, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty looked to generate some traction of his own Monday as he doubled down his efforts in the Hawkeye State.

For Pawlenty to have a shot at the Republican nomination, he will have to do strongly in Iowa -- especially as New Hampshire, home of the first presidential primary, appears locked up for Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota on Monday formally launched her bid to become the Republican presidential nominee in 2012.

Looking to be the first member of the U.S. House directly elected to the presidency since James Garfield did it in 1880, Bachmann made an informal announcement earlier in the month during a debate with the various Republican presidential candidates in New Hampshire.

Speaking in her old hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, Bachmann called for a constitutionally conservative government, which she insisted the Founding Fathers intended.

Speaking to a cheering crowd at the National Right-to-Life Committee (NRLC) annual meeting in Jacksonville, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, now making a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, slammed President Barack Obama for undermining the rights of Americans.

I very much feel at home here, said Santorum as he accepted the applause of the pro-life activists meeting on the First Coast. He praised them for all their efforts, calling them warriors of love.