Paul and Romney Atop New Polls of Iowa Voters, Santorum Surging

Few expected Ron Paul to be much of a factor in the GOP presidential race. How wrong they were.

Just days away from the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses, the Texas Congressman remains out in front in a new poll of likely Iowa caucus-goers released Dec. 27 by Public Policy Polling. In a second poll, by CNN, Paul comes in second with 22 percent of support among likely Iowa voters. That poll was released today.

Both polls show former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney rebounding, at least in terms of his position relative to other candidates. Romney is in first place with 25 percent of support in the CNN poll of 452 Republicans.

However, both candidates are within the margin of error for frontrunner status in the PPP and CNN polls.

One surprise, Rick Santorum, who's been campaigning furiously in Iowa for months yet hadn't seem to find traction in the polls, has finally found some traction.

Santorum came in third in the CNN poll conducted from Dec. 21 to 27 with 16 percent of support, well above his typical standing in the back of the pack with support in the single digits. In the last CNN poll, the former Pennsylvania senator had 6 percent of support.

In the PPP poll Paul comes in first with 24 percent of support, followed closely by Mitt Romney at 20 percent and Gingrich slipping behind at 13 percent.

Michele Bachmann came in fourth with 11 percent, then Rick Perry and Rick Santorum each with 10 percent. Jon Huntsman has 4 percent support and Buddy Roemer has 2 percent. Hunstman and Roemer have not campaigned in Iowa.

PPP, a Democratic-affiated polling firm, surveyed 565 likely Republican caucus voters on Dec. 26 and 27. The margin of error for the survey is +/-4.1 percent.

According to the survey, Romney has a 22-20 advantage among Republicans, while Paul has a 39-12 lead among independents and Democrats. Seniors favor Romney over Paul by a 34-12  margin, but Paul is a 35-11 favorite among those under 45.

When it comes to passion, 77 percent of Paul's supporters say they are firmly committed, compared with 71 percent for Romney.

Another plus for Romney, he picked up an endorsement from the Iowa City Press-Citizen. The newspaper's editorial board tabbed Romney as its pick for the GOP nomination, joining sister Gannett paper , which also endorsed Romney.