9-9-9 ... brilliant! (Scott Audette/Reuters)
Anderson Robbins (D) / Shaw & Company (R) for Fox News (PDF). 9/25-27. Republicans. ±5.5%. (8/29-31 results):
Mitt Romney: 23 (22)
Rick Perry: 19 (29)
Herman Cain: 17 (6)
Newt Gingrich: 11 (3)
Ron Paul: 6 (8)
Jon Huntsman: 4 (1)
Michele Bachmann: 3 (8)
Rick Santorum: 3 (4)
The good news for Mitt Romney is that he's in first place in this poll. The bad news is that his support isn't just flat, it's actually down slightly from 26% in surveys conducted by the same firm late July and early August, so all he's managed to do is slide into first by virtue of Rick Perry's tumble. The candidates who surged in this poll are Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich, not Romney.
Jon Huntsman also enjoyed a bump in support — that's relevant because breaking the 2% threshold qualifies him for the next CNN debate.
But while Romney, Huntsman, Cain, and Gingrich all have something to smile about when it comes to their position among Republicans, the country at large is not impressed with them: 58% of the full sample (in other words, not just Republicans, but also Democrats and independents) say they are not impressed with the GOP field.
In the poll, President Obama leads both Romney and Perry, Romney by a 45%-42% margin and Perry by a 47%-39% margin. Just 32% of those surveyed said they thought President Obama's campaign message was designed to drive people apart — 56% said it was designed to unify the country. As Greg Sargent points out, so much for Fox's class warfare push.