WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rick Santorum and Marco Rubio are the top two choices among Republican voters as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.

Eighteen percent of registered Republican voters picked former Pennsylvania Senator Santorum out of a list of 19 potential running mates for Romney, the party’s presumptive presidential nominee in the November 6 general election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In October, Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress ignited a firestorm by calling Mormonism a “cult” and telling Republicans not to vote for Mitt Romney because the presidential aspirant was not a “competent Christian.”

Today, Jeffress is endorsing Romney.

He is just one of many evangelical Christian leaders putting aside their suspicion of the former Massachusetts governor, a Mormon, to support him against President Barack Obama ahead of this November’s election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hispanics favor President Barack Obama’s policies over those of Republican rival Mitt Romney by large margins but many in the fast-growing voter group are still undecided on issues more than six months ahead of the presidential election.

Hispanics also feel the Democratic Party better serves the needs of most Americans than the Republican Party, which bodes poorly for Romney and members of his party running in congressional and state elections.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The economy looms large over November’s general election in a basic way for strapped cities and counties: can they afford it?

In Detroit, the city clerk warned last week that the Rust Belt city would have trouble holding the November 6 presidential election under a slimmed-down budget the mayor proposed to address years of deep financial problems.

WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) – A year ago, organized labor
was threatening a break with President Barack Obama for being
too willing to compromise with Republicans on issues like the
debt ceiling, Bush tax cuts, free trade and workplace
legislation.

Union leaders said they would no longer walk in lock step
with Democratic politicians if they did not support labor’s
agenda, and hinted at more campaigns like the $10 million they
spent in an unsuccessful bid to defeat Democratic Senator
Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 Arkansas primary.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – American women favor Barack Obama by a 14-point margin over Mitt Romney, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday, despite the recent partisan “Mommy Wars” flap over the role of women in society.

Fifty-one percent of registered women voters support the Democratic president, according to the poll, compared with 37 percent who favor Romney, the probable Republican nominee in the November 6 presidential election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s lead over Mitt Romney has narrowed to 4 percentage points from 11 points a month ago, now that Romney has established himself as the probable Republican presidential nominee, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.

Obama was backed by 47 percent of registered voters in the telephone poll conducted from April 12-15, compared with 43 percent who supported Romney. In the same poll conducted March 8-11, Obama led Romney by 52 percent to 41 percent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s lead over Mitt Romney has narrowed to 4 percentage points from 11 points a month ago, now that Romney has established himself as the probable Republican presidential nominee, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.

Obama was backed by 47 percent of registered voters in the telephone poll conducted from April 12 to 15, compared with 43 percent who supported Romney. In the same poll conducted March 8-11, Obama led Romney by 52 percent to 41 percent.