The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of general election match-ups shows Hillary Clinton leading Mitt Romney 47% to 41%. Barack Obama leads Romney 49% to 37%. The survey was completed before Romney’s victory in the Michigan Primary and is show both Clinton and Obama gaining ground over the past month (see trends and history).

The former Massachusetts governor enjoys a double-digit advantage over Clinton among male voters, but trails by five points among that group when pitted against Obama. In both match-ups, Romney suffers a deficit of around 20 percentage points with female voters. Among unaffiliated voters, Romney is dead even with Clinton, 40% to 40%, but trails Obama by twelve points among this group, just as he does among likely voters as a whole.

Since September, Romney has attracted better than 40% support three times in match-ups with Obama, but he keeps relapsing into the high-30s. Obama led Romney by six points a month ago.

Romney has proven to be a tougher competitor against Clinton, actually gaining a one-point lead in a mid-December survey. In all previous match-ups, though, he trailed her by anywhere from three to 11 points.

A separate survey shows that47% of likely voters would definitely vote against Mitt Romney. Among major candidates, only Hillary Clinton faces the same high level of determined opposition.

Romney is favorably viewed by 36%, a 12-point decline since early January; unfavorably by 50%. Clinton is at 45% favorable, 53% unfavorable. Obama is at 53% favorable, 45% unfavorable.

Disappointed in his expensively funded hopes for Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney then pulled off a victory Michigan, the state in which he was born. His father George Romney was a popular governor there and his victory in that state highlighted the challenges facing John McCain.