Romney, eyeing knockout, opens up 8-point lead in Mississippi poll

Mitt Romney might have drawn jeers for joking that he was embracing "grits" and saying "y'all" ahead of next Tuesday's Deep South primaries, but if his lead in Mississippi holds, Romney might be able to credit the Magnolia State with locking up his nomination.

The former Massachusetts governor was the choice of 35 percent of likely Mississippi primary voters according to the latest Rasmussen poll, released Friday, good enough for an 8-point lead over Rick Santorum. The former Pennsylvania senator earned the support of 27 percent of voters, tied with Newt Gingrich for second place. Ron Paul rounded out the field with 6 percent of those surveyed.

That's a surprising lead for Romney in a state he admitted was "a bit of an away game." An American Research Group, also released Friday, showed Gingrich with a 4-point lead over Romney, with Rick Santorum a full 15 points behind.

But if the Rasmussen numbers hold, the campaign teams at Gingrich and Santorum headquarters are facing a potential knockout blow. Romney has a commanding delegate lead, and his rivals are both counting on the support of the deeply conservative, blue-collar voters that dominate Deep South primaries. If Romney demonstrates that he is able to curry favor with those voters, he will have a compelling argument for his competitors to clear the field.

Gingrich's campaign manager admitted as much in comments to reporters earlier this week, agreeing the states were "must wins." While the candidate backed off those comments somewhat — telling supporters on a conference call Thursday night he planned to go on to the convention regardless of the results — Gingrich's viability nevertheless rests on a Deep South strategy.

Romney is in the midst of a two-day swing through the state, visiting a Mississippi farmer's market Friday morning with Gov. Phil Bryant, who has endorsed his candidacy.

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