Romney's favorability rating up in poll

WASHINGTON, April 17 (UPI) -- U.S. voters are starting to warm up to Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a poll released Tuesday indicates.

The CNN/ORC International survey found 44 percent of those questioned have a favorable view of Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. That's up 10 points from February. On the flip side of that coin, 43 percent said they have an unfavorable opinion of him, down 11 points from February.

Thirteen percent said they were unsure.

Despite the improved numbers, Romney still has a way to go to catch incumbent Democrat Barack Obama. The poll found the president has a 56 percent favorable rating, along with a 42 percent negative rating.

The telephone poll of 1,015 adults -- 910 of them registered voters -- was conducted Friday through Sunday. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.