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President Obama is running even with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a hypothetical head-to-head general election matchup but outpaces the rest of his Republican rivals in a new national poll.

The president and Romney are tied at 45 percent, according to a Public Policy Polling (D) survey released Tuesday. Obama and Romney were tied at 45 in a PPP poll released last month as well. Texas Gov. Rick Perry trails Obama by six points, 49 percent to 43 percent. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann trails the president by eight points, 50 percent to 42 percent. In July, she trailed by seven. Businessman Herman Cain trails the president by 10 points, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is behind by 13 points.

Notably, Obama edges his rivals among independent voters. Romney comes closest to the president in this category but still trails by nine points. The others are behind by at least 24 points.

Obama leads both Palin and Bachman among female voters by at least 16 points. Male voters are split evenly between Obama and Bachmann. The president has a five-point edge over Palin among men. Obama loses male voters to Romney, 40 percent to 51 percent, and to Perry by two points, 45 percent to 47 percent.

The president loses white voters to his Republican rivals but holds substantial leads among minority voters.

For this poll, PPP surveyed 700 registered voters from Aug. 18-21. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.