P5 Matters as Herman Cain Joins the Top Tier and Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann Fade

A Fox News poll released late Wednesday found that the Republican Party of Floridas (RPOF) P5 event in Orlando last week dramatically impacted the race for the GOP presidential nomination, as Texas Gov. Rick Perry faded after a poor debate performance and Herman Cain, who won the P5 straw poll, moved up.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts led the pack with 23 percent while Perry, who led in the Fox News poll at the end of August, placed second with 19 percent. Cain, a businessman and a favorite of the tea party movement, took third with 17 percent -- an 11-point gain from the late August poll. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich also experienced dramatic growth since late August, moving from 3 percent then to 11 percent in the most recent poll.

The rest of the field trailed in single digits. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas garnered 6 percent. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah stood in sixth with 4 percent. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who placed last in the P5 straw poll, and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania were knotted together at 3 percent. Bachmanns numbers faded badly during the summer; in a Fox News poll released in the middle of July, she stood at 15 percent.

Three candidates -- former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, activist Fred Karger and former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana -- garnered less than 1 percent.

The poll of 363 GOP primary voters was taken from Sept. 25-27 and had a margin of error of +/- 5 percent.