Poll: Newt runs the best of any Republican against Obama

Newt trails President Obama by two points, 47-45, says a McClatchy-Marist poll. That's the best of any Republican.

Newt wins among indepedents, 47-41.

Mitt Romney is next at a four point deficit, 48-44. Then Ron Paul, who is down eight, 49-41.

Newt Hampshire!

NBC:

Following a surge in national polls, Newt Gingrich's distinctive name peppered news headlines frequently over the weekend with gems like "Newtmentum" and "Newtvember."

Today, in a move that no other candidate can replicate, the campaign has told NBC News it is joining in the fun, rolling out "Newt Hampshire!", a social media volunteer platform wholly dedicated to Granite State volunteers.

Communications director Matt LeDuc said the site's content and mobilization strategy will "utterly blow your mind." The site will fully debut next Monday, the same day the former Speaker of the House will return to New Hampshire. Gingrich will participate in an editorial board meeting with the Union Leader newspaper and participate in a couple of campaign stops.

This comes as Gingrich rapidly expands his political operation in New Hampshire, a state in which his staff hopes will be the second stop of a sustained "surge" through the primary season.

The Gingrich campaign has also hired a new senior advisor with a name well known in the Granite State: Jim Wieczorek, an ex-staffer for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and son of sitting executive councilor Ray Wieczorek. He is also vice president of an insurance company bearing the family name.

Wieczorek will be joined by newly-minted captains of all 10 New Hampshire counties, according to Gingrich's New Hampshire state director, Andrew Hemingway.

California GOP poll: Newt 33%, Romney 23%, Cain 22%, Perry 6%

Writes Public Policy Polling:

One thing the California numbers really point to is that if Cain's support continues declining Gingrich has the potential to benefit in a major way. Among Cain voters 42% say Gingrich would be their second choice compared to 14% for Bachmann, 12% for Romney, and only 8% for Perry. Cain voters are fond of Gingrich, giving him a 60/30 favorability rating. Meanwhile they're not too keen on either Romney (30/56) or Perry (32/54). Neither of those guys is very well positioned to benefit if the bottom falls out on Cain.

Newt's overall favorability rating is 68/26.

Newt does the best among tea partiers, winning the support of 37% of those who identify with the tea party movement. Cain gets 29%. The next closest are Rick Perry and Ron Paul at 10%. Romney gets 9%.

Newt ties Romney with those who do not consider themselves part of the tea party movement with 30%. Cain gets 19% of those.

Newt is the only candidate who shows the ability to draw significant support from both the tea party and non-tea party wings of the GOP.

Newt's favorability among different groups:

Somewhat liberal voters: 54-37%
Moderate: 48-41
Somewhat conservative: 63-28
Very conservative: 79-18

Among women: 69-23%. Among men: 66-28%. Newt leads among both genders. He's also the top second choice of both men and women.

Among different age groups:

18-45: 63-30
46-65: 65-28
65+: 78-16

Newt polling 7 points better among independents and 4 better among Democrats in the last month

"Gingrich's improvement has come across the board -- he's doing 7 points better with independents, 4 points better with Democrats, and 4 points better with Republicans," writes Public Policy Polling today.

That translates into Newt trimming an eleven point deficit last month into just a six point one now, 49-43. (For context, Jimmy Carter was beating Ronald Reagan about 60-30 at this point in 1979.)

Only Mitt Romney, who trails Obama 46-43, does better than Newt among Republicans.

(Video) Newt on personanl retirement accounts

Link to video. (1:21.)

(Video) Newt's interview with Hannity from Monday night

Link to video.

(Audio) Newt on New Hampshire radio

Link to interview.

Video and audio from Newt's day in Iowa

Video of Newt answering an Iowan voter on how he plans to seal the deal with her and others. (I posted the full audio here.)



Audio of Newt's event in Iowa at GuideOne Insurance.

Audio of an interview did after the event.

Audio of interview with Lillie Anderson, the voter who asked Newt the question about sealing the deal.

Iowan so impressed by Newt today that he writes a $2500 check on the spot

The Wall Street Journal: "Doug Reichardt, chairman of a nearby company, said he was so impressed Monday that he wrote a $2,500 check to the campaign on the spot."

At the same event today in Iowa, Newt was asked by Lillie Anderson, who is 76 and who is leaning toward Newt, what would he do to seal the deal with her and other voters.

Here's the audio of his answer.

(Video) Newt in South Carolina this past weekend

Here are some videos shot by a person attending Newt's event at Furman University Saturday:

Link to video.



Link to a video on Social Security.



Immigration video.



Video on Lincoln-Douglas debates.



What a general election between Newt and Obama would look like.