Poll: Romney steals back the lead from Gingrich

For the first time since the South Carolina primary more than one week ago, a new Gallup poll shows Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich among national Republicans. The latest Gallup Daily tracking poll shows that the former Massachusetts governor is leading Gingrich 31 percent to 26 percent, just outside the 4 percent margin of error.

The former Speaker of the House enjoyed a bump in his ratings after his last-minute surge in South Carolina which propelled him to be that state's primary winner.

Following the primary win, Gingrich enjoyed a lead in Gallup's national poll for just several days before the race tightened again. But Gallup's latest estimate, which was released today, interviewed 1,159 likely Republican voters and shows that Romney is back ahead.

Romney's commanding win in Florida on Tuesday is only partially represented in this poll, which tallied voters' preferences between January 29 and 31. Gallup predicts that Romney's advantage is expected to grow in coming days to completely take into account the Florida outcome. As for Romney enjoying a permanent lead?  The only thing predictable in this roller-coaster Republican nominating contest is that it is completely unpredictable.