Rick Santorum Leads President Obama 46% to 45% in Latest Rasmussen Presidential Tracking Poll

Both Mitt Romney and Santorum lead Obama nationally, while Romney leads Santorum nationally for the GOP nomination. The poll also shows high unfavorables for the president's handling of the economy.

See, "Daily Presidential Tracking Poll":

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19 (see trends).

Looking at Tuesday's upcoming primaries, the GOP race in Alabama is essentially a three-way tie, while Mitt Romney leads by eight in Mississippi.   Nationally, Romney now leads Rick Santorum by 12 points.  Regardless of who they want to win, 80% of Republican Primary Voters nationwide believe Romney will be the party's nominee.

With the perception growing that he will be the GOP nominee, Romney leads President Obama by five points in a hypothetical 2012 matchup. Today's numbers show Romney at 48%, Obama at 43%. That’s Romney’s largest lead since December. Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update).

If Santorum is the Republican nominee, he is up by one point over the president, 46% to 45%. This is the second time since polling began in 2011 that Santorum has had a slight lead over Obama. Romney is the only other candidate to lead the president more than one time in the polls.

Although 80 percent expect Romney to win the nomination, he's no shoo-in, and continued victories for Santorum could work to deny Romney the necessary delegates he needs to secure the party's not by the end of the primaries in June. See this video report at ABC News, "Kansas Caucus 2012: Rick Santorum Claims New Victory."