Three New Polls Confirm Rick Santorum is Surging as the Iowa Caucuses Draw Near; Mitt Romney Now Leading in Very Close Race – 12/29/11

Three new polls have come out of Iowa today, and they show dramatic changes in the GOP Presidential race for the Iowa Caucuses that will take place next Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

A new American Research Group Poll has Mitt Romney with a 5-point lead, 22%-17% over Newt Gingrich, with Ron Paul in third place at 16%. ARG has Rick Santorum up to 11%.

A new Rasmussen Poll gives Mitt Romney at one point lead over Ron Paul, 23%-22%, with Rick Santorum surging up to 16%. Newt Gingrich falls to 13% along with Rick Perry.

The third poll is from Insider Advantage, and it shows an incredibly close race, with six candidates within six-points of the lead! They have a three-way tie at the top, with Romney, Gingrich and Paul all at 17%. Rick Santorum gets 13%, followed by Michele Bachmann at 12% and Rick Perry at 11%.

The most striking thing that these polls confirm is that Rick Santorum is surging as the Caucuses draw near. His surge is coming at just the right time, too, because he is getting a lot of positive press right now, which could cause his momentum to grow heading into the weekend. The fact it is coming just before the vote could mean it will not have time to dissipate, as it has for other candidates.

Our 7-day average of polls in Iowa now has Mitt Romney in the lead with 21.4%, followed by Ron Paul at 20.2%, Newt Gingrich at 14.8%, Rick Santorum at 13.2%, and Rick Perry at 10.8%.