Gingrich Campaign Press Release - Poll: Gingrich Strongest Republican Candidate to Defeat Obama

A new McClatchy-Marist Poll released today shows Newt is in a virtual tie (47% to 45%) with President Obama in a head to head matchup, the strongest of any of the Republican candidates. Gingrich is also beating Obama 47% to 41% among independent voters.

Newt Gingrich is the strongest Republican candidate when matched head to head against Democratic President Barack Obama, according to a McClatchy-Marist Poll released Tuesday.

The former speaker of the House of Representatives is neck and neck with the incumbent president, back just 2 percentage points among registered voters. Obama leads 47 percent to 45 percent.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is next closest, trailing Obama by 4 percentage points. In that matchup, Obama leads 48 percent to 44 percent.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is the third best bet for the Republicans right now, 8 points back from Obama. No other Republican is within single digits of Obama. The survey has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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Yet Obama fares better when matched up against specific Republicans. Beyond the neck-and-neck match-ups with Gingrich and Romney, the numbers are:

-- Obama 49-41 over Paul;

-- Obama 49-39 over Cain;

-- Obama 51-40 over Gov. Rick Perry of Texas;

-- Obama 54-35 over Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

One reason why Gingrich and Romney do better than other Republicans against Obama is that they both win independent voters, who swing back and forth. Gingrich wins independents by 47 percent to 41 percent over Obama. Romney does even better with that swing bloc, carrying them 55 percent to 39 percent.

Gingrich does better among Republicans than Romney, though, winning 84 percent of their support, vs. Romney's 80 percent.