The State of the Race in Five Charts

The story of the 2012 Presidential campaign over the past month has been defined by a mini-resurgence for Barack Obama and the continued difficulties for Mitt Romney and his bid to secure the Republican nomination. Below, five charts tell the tale.

As the economy is recovering

Obama’s approval rating is rising…

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney is facing mounting dissatisfaction among conservatives, who are now moving to Rick Santorum, even in Michigan, a state Romney won in 2008 by nine percentage points, but where Santorum is surging

Romney has been through this before—in fact, considering there have been ten candidates—or potential candidates—in the race who have challenged his lead, he’s been through this ten times already—and so he’s moving to stamp out Santorum in Michigan the way he took care of Gingrich in Florida: by burying his opponent with mostly negative TV advertisements. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Romney and his Super PAC are outspending Santorum by more than 40 to 1 through next Monday.” (Santorum’s camp is responding—the Super PAC that supports him has reportedly just bought six hundred and fifty-two thousand dollars’ worth of air time in Michigan, which cuts Romney’s advantage significantly.)

But Romney’s tough primary fight—both the attacks on him and his own pillorying of his rivals with negative ads—is taking a toll on his image…

It all adds up—at the moment, at least—to a stronger Obama and a weaker Romney.

Photograph by Eric Thayer/Getty.