Obama is ahead in matchups against each of the GOP contenders, one poll finds. Poll: Obama tops 50% vs. all comers

President Barack Obama is topping 50 percent support in match-ups against each of the four Republican presidential candidates, a new poll finds.

In a general election contest against Mitt Romney, the president leads his Republican opponent 51 to 43 percent, according to an Associated Press-GfK survey on Wednesday. This demonstrates a significant lead for Obama compared to the December poll when the two were virtually tied at 47 to 46 percent.


Meanwhile, Obama would lead Rick Santorum 52 to 43 percent, Newt Gingrich 52 to 42 percent, and Ron Paul 53 to 44 percent.

While both candidates are trailing well behind Obama, Santorum is virtually tied with Romney as the preferred presidential nominee among Republican voters. Thirty-three percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters said they would like to see Santorum seize the party’s nomination, while 32 percent chose Romney. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were both the preferred nominees of 15 percent of Republicans.

Romney was shown with the highest favorability rating in the GOP field at 50 percent; Paul and Santorum were next with 47 and 44 percent favorability ratings, respectively, while Gingrich trailed behind at 33 percent.

The poll revealed a significant level of dissatisfaction among the Republican voting bloc about the current presidential field –39 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said they are not satisfied with their choice of 2012 candidates.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted Feb. 16-20 among 1,000 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.