Poll: Obama leaves Romney, Santorum in the dust, for now

As the Obama campaign braced for a setback on its healthcare legislation at the Supreme Court this week, polling data released today by CNN showed the president continues to make progress in his bid for reelection.

Nationwide, President Barack Obama has double-digit leads over both the main Republican contenders, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, according to CNN.

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According to the CNN/ORC poll released today (PDF), Obama’s approval rating is now above 50 percent, the first time it has done so in the poll since May last year.

If the general election were held today, Obama would win 54 percent of the vote to Romney’s 43 percent, up from a 51 percent – 46 percent advantage recorded last month, according to the poll. The survey also found that Obama has a 55 percent to 42 percent lead over Rick Santorum. The survey questioned 1,014 adults by telephone and has a sampling error of 3 points.

"President Obama currently wins majority support among groups that have been problematic for him in the past, including men, older voters, and suburbanites," CNN Poling Director Keating Holland was quoted as saying. "He has a solid lead among independents as well."

However, the CNN results do not jibe with tracking poll data also released today by Rasmussen Reports.

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That polling agency found Obama leading Santorum by just four points nationwide and found Obama leads Romney by a single percentage point at 45 percent to 44 percent.