Herman Cain has shot from 5% into a tie for first place with Mitt Romney over the last two weeks according to a new CBS poll. Rick Perry's not ready for prime time debate performances have sent his campaign into a nose dive.
Herman Cain rises, Rick Perry slides in new CBS News poll
Herman Cain has moved into a tie with Mitt Romney atop the field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new CBS News poll, while Rick Perry has fallen 11 percentage points in just two weeks.
Cain's rise follows a flurry of positive media coverage for his upset victory over Perry in the Florida straw poll last month. The only African-American candidate in the GOP field, Cain has also been getting traction with GOP voters and conservative columnists with his 9-9-9 tax plan - a proposal to replace the current tax code with a nine percent flat income tax, a nine percent corporate tax and a nine percent national sales tax.
The CBS News poll shows Cain as the top choice among self-described conservatives, with 21 percent support. (Two weeks ago, he polled at just six percent with this group.) Romney polls in second among conservatives with 15 percent support, followed by Perry at 13 percent. Cain is also the top choice of Republican primary voters who support the Tea Party, polling at 24 percent to Romney's 17 percent, Gingrich's 13 percent and Perry's 12 percent.
CBS News Poll: 10/4/11
2012 Republican Nomination for President(among Republican primary voters)
Now Two weeks ago
Mitt Romney 17% 16%
Herman Cain 17% 5%
Rick Perry 12% 23%
Newt Gingrich 8% 7%
Ron Paul 7% 5%
Michele Bachmann 4% 7%
Rick Santorum 3% 1%
Jon Huntsman 2% 1%
Undecided 18% 22%
Two weeks ago, Cain was an afterthought among the conservatives who comprise the majorityof Republican primary voters – polling at just 6% support. Today Cain is the leading candidate,
The fickle rapid shifts by Republicans, along with undecided remaining the most popular choice among Republicans seems to show they are far from satisfied with the choices the G.O.P. is offering them.
Oddly enough this news comes just as Cain is about to leave the campaign trail for much of this month for a book tour. That's how seriously Cain takes running for President. Maybe its Cain's plan 999 for selling books while ducking the intense media scrutiny that sunk the Bachmann and Perry campaigns.