It seems as though Mitt Romney has all but won South Carolina, as he opened up a 21-point lead in the polls. The former governor has fended off attacks from Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, who have taken to using his record at Bain Capital against the frontrunner. Indeed, South Carolinians seem not to care -- and in fact, the attacks have only succeeded in diminishing support for both candidates, who placed fifth and fourth respectively.
The poll showed 37 percent of South Carolina Republican voters back Romney. Congressman Ron Paul and former Senator Rick Santorum tied for second place with 16 percent support.
In a question asked of Republicans and Democrats, the poll found South Carolina voters would favor Romney over Obama by 46 percent to 40 percent.
After Gingrich, Texas Governor Rick Perry placed next in the Reuters/Ipsos poll with 6 percent support. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who was third in the New Hampshire primary, came in the lowest in the South Carolina poll with 3 percent support.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online from January 10-13 with a sample of 995 South Carolina registered voters. It included 398 Republicans and 380 Democrats.
Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online surveys but this poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 5 percentage points for Republicans and 3.4 percentage points for all voters.
Is Romney all but the nominee? Or can someone else stop him in the later states?