Poll released today shows Romney leading in both Iowa and New Hampshire

The latest poll here in Iowa says that Mitt Romney has moved into the lead.

The CNN.TIME, ORC poll conducted on December 21-24 and December 26-27 gives Romney 25% to 22% for Ron Paul,  16% for Rick Santorum (again, as the buzz predicted), 14% for Newt Gingrich,  11% for Rick Perry, 9% for Michele Bachmann, and 1% for Jon Huntsman. 2% expressed no preference.

It should be noted, however, that this poll was taken only among self-identified Republicans. Independents and Democrats are allowed to change their registration on primary night in order to participate in the GOP caucus. Even some polls showing Ron Paul still in the lead among those intending to participate in the caucuses show Romney leading among Republicans. Also, the poll was begun before Herman Cain's departure from the race; the votes of Cain voters were awarded to the candidate they had listed as their second choice.

Romney seems to have been the primary beneficiary of Gingrich's fall from grace to to a barrage of negative ads from Romney, Perry and Paul. But perhaps the most notable result is Santorum's rise from 5% in the last poll released earlier this month- only Huntsman had less support- to 16% and third place in the poll released today.

While Paul leads the field when voters are asked which candidate's positions they most agree with (22% to Romney's 18%), Romney leads by a large margin when the question is about "the personal qualities and characteristics you think a president should have" (25% to Paul's 19%). Voters in this survey placed  "leadership skills and vision" ahead of candidates' positions on issues as the most important factor in their decision by a margin of 49% to 44%.

Paul leads the field in the number of respondents who say that they would never consider supporting him (42% to Gingrich's 39).

41% believe that Romney has the best chance of defeating President Obama in November, compared with 17% for Gingrich and 14% for Paul.

The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.5%.

Meanwhile,  Romney's lead in New Hampshire is growing, according to a study done during the same period by the same organization. As in Iowa, votes cast for Herman Cain were awarded to the candidate whom the voter in question indicated was his or her second choice.

The poll shows Romney with 44%,  with Paul a distant second, with 17%. Gingrich,  who had 26% in the previous poll, has tumbled to third with 16%. Jon Huntsman has 9%, Rick Santorum 4%, Michele Bachmann 3%, Rick Perry 2%, "none of the above" 1%, and  "no opinion," 5%.

HT:  Drudge