NBC/Marist: Romney 42%, Paul 22%, Santorum 13% en NH

NBC News:

Just four days until Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney now enjoys a 20-point advantage over his nearest rival in the Granite State, according to a new NBC News-Marist poll conducted after his photo-finish victory in Iowa.

The survey also shows a double-digit bounce since late November in the state for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum – who trailed Romney by a mere eight votes in Iowa – as well as a 15-point decline for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

And it finds that New Hampshire voters have begun to make up their minds before the Jan. 10 contest, with six in 10 now strongly supporting their candidate of choice.

According to the poll, Romney gets the backing of 42 percent of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, including those leaning toward a particular candidate.

He’s followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 22 percent, Santorum at 13 percent, Gingrich and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman both tied at 9 percent, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 1 percent.

(...) Electability and the state’s ideological makeup are helping Romney in New Hampshire.

Sixty-five percent of likely primary voters believe that the former Massachusetts governor has the best chance of beating President Barack Obama in November. And more than 60 percent of these voters prefer an electable nominee to one who is a true conservative.

Romney still underperforms among conservative voters, Tea Party supporters and evangelical Christians in the state -- but not to the extent he did in Iowa.

Indeed, he leads among very conservative voters (getting 30 percent to 27 percent for Santorum), Tea Party supporters (35 percent to Paul’s 25 percent) and evangelical Christians (31 percent to Santorum’s 30 percent).

(...) While Paul sits in second place in the NBC-Marist poll, he has a lower ceiling than Santorum has. Forty-three percent of likely voters find Paul unacceptable, versus 25 percent who say the same about Santorum.

Meanwhile, 44 percent find Gingrich unacceptable, and 54 percent find Perry unacceptable.

Just 16 percent of these voters say that Romney is not acceptable.

The poll also shows that the debates – and two more of them take place this weekend – have mattered to New Hampshire voters.