CNN Poll: Mitt Romney Beats Obama, Loses to Hillary

President Barack Obama would easily be beaten by 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney in a hypothetical rematch today, a new poll shows.

But the CNN/ORC International survey also shows that Romney would be trounced by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if he changes his mind and decides to run again for the White House, CNN reported.

Romney would receive 53 percent of the popular vote compared to 44 percent for Obama, but is beaten by the former first lady by 55 percent to 42 percent. Romney has repeatedly said that he will not throw his hat into the GOP ring in 2016.

"Politically speaking, there is an interesting group of people who would not vote for Obama but would pick Clinton over Romney," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said in the CNN story. "It turns out that nearly 7 in 10 of them are women, and 56 percent are independents."

In the 2012 election, Obama beat Romney 51 percent to 47 percent in the popular vote, winning the Electoral College by 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206.

The poll also reveals that the race for the GOP presidential nomination is still wide open, although there has been a noticeable rise in the number of Republicans who favor New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Thirteen percent of Republicans backed Christie, while Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee each received 12 percent support.

Perry, who had a short-lived run for the White House in 2012, and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, are behind with 11 percent each.

Christie and Perry, however, have each jumped 5 percentage points from CNN's last Republican nomination poll conducted in June.

Christie has bounced back from the scandal surrounding the traffic chaos on the George Washington Bridge last year, while Perry has been at the center of the fight to secure the nation’s border in south Texas.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are both at 8 percent in the poll, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 6 percent and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin at 5 percent.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who lost to Romney in the 2012 GOP primary battle, is at 3 percent, according to poll results.

The study also revealed that Obama's approval ratings have remained the same, around 42 percent.

The poll of 1,012 adults was conducted from July 18 to 20, and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

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