Poll: Romney lead is safe in New Hampshire

In the previous Suffolk poll, released on Nov. 22, Romney took 41 percent compared to Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul with 14 percent each. That’s a 3 percent decline for Romney and a 6 percent gain for Gingrich.
 
{mosads}But Romney has largely withstood the Gingrich surge in the Granite State, unlike in the other three early-voting states of Iowa, South Carolina and Florida, where Gingrich has built double-digit leads.
 
The Romney campaign is banking on a win in New Hampshire, where he owns a home. Romney served as governor of neighboring Massachusetts.
 
Percentage-wise, the biggest mover in the poll was Jon Huntsman, who surged from 9 percent in the previous poll to 13 percent. Huntsman has staked his campaign on New Hampshire, where he campaigns almost full time and maintains his campaign headquarters.
 
According to the poll, Huntsman’s support is buoyed by independents, who are allowed to vote in the New Hampshire GOP primary. Huntsman only trails Romney by 11 percent with independents, and finishes ahead of both Gingrich and Paul.           
 
But Romney has a commanding lead over his GOP rivals when it comes to the issues New Hampshire voters care about. Voters trust Romney over Gingrich with regard to the economy by a margin of 59 percent to 20, and 70 percent say his personality is better suited to be president, compared to only 16 percent for Gingrich.