A national poll taken by ORC International and CNN reveals -- as have so many recent polls -- that Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has vaulted ahead of the rest of the Republican presidential candidates.
Perry, who entered the race earlier in August, topped the poll with 27 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts placed second with 14 percent followed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has yet to announce her candidacy, with 10 percent. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, another candidate who has yet to enter the race, tied for fourth with 9 percent. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas tied for sixth with 6 percent. Businessman Herman Cain and former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico followed with 2 percent each, while former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania garnered 1 percent each. U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan trailed with less than 1 percent.
When Palin and Giuliani were taken out of the mix, Perry led Romney by a similar margin. In that scenario, Perry took 32 percent followed by Romney with 18 percent. Bachmann took third with 12 percent followed by Gingrich with 7 percent. Paul was in fifth place with 6 percent. Cain took 3 percent followed by Johnson with 2 percent. Huntsman, Santorum and McCotter trailed with 1 percent each.
The poll of 467 Republicans was taken from Aug. 24-25 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
Perrys lead has increased dramatically since announcing his candidacy earlier in the month. In a CNN/ORC International poll taken from Aug. 5-7, before the Texas governor entered the race, Romney led with 17 percent followed by Perry with 15 percent, and Palin, Paul and Giuliani tied for third with 12 percent. Bachmann followed with 7 percent. Gingrich took 5 percent while Cain and Huntsman were tied with 4 percent. Santorum took 2 percent in the earlier poll while McCotter and Johnson drew less than 1 percent.
The poll also found that President Barack Obama continues to retain the allegiance of most Democrats. Backing the president were 72 percent, while 27 percent said they thought he should not be renominated.
This differs little from the poll taken earlier in August. At that time, 70 percent of Democrats wanted to renominate Obama while 28 percent opposed it. The poll of 463 Democrats was taken from Aug. 24-25 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
