Will Newt arrest pollsters to prevent his slide? (Photo: gage skidmore)

The national climate is quickly turning against Newt Gingrich. Two new national polls indicate Gingrich’s lead has slipped noticeably since earlier this month. A new CNN/ORC poll finds Gingrich went from a 4 point lead over Mitt Romney to being tied. From CNN:

A CNN/ORC International Poll released Monday indicates that 28% of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say the former House speaker is their choice for their party’s nominee, with an equal amount supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. In CNN’s previous national poll, conducted last month, Gingrich held a 24%-20% margin over Romney. And Gingrich’s lead over the rest of the field of candidates was even larger in other surveys conducted at the beginning of this month.

Even worse for Gingrich is the most recent news from Gallup’s daily tracking poll of the Republican primary. Gingrich’s support has trended downward now for ten straight days. On December 9th Gingrich had 37 percent support compared to Romney at 23 percent. Today Gingrich only gets 26 percent compared to Romney at 24 percent. Gingrich’s total level of support has dropped on average almost one point a day for the past ten days according to Gallup.

Given the high volatility of this race there is still time for things to change dramatically again, but the current trend is not looking good for Gingrich. His rapid drop in the Gallup tracking poll looks less like a hiccup and more like a bubble bursting.