ORC for CNN. 9/23-25. Republicans. MoE not avail. (9/9-11 results):
Rick Perry: 28 (30)
Mitt Romney: 21 (18)
Newt Gingrich: 10 (5)
Herman Cain: 7 (5)
Sarah Palin: 7 (15)
Ron Paul: 7 (12)
Michele Bachmann: 4 (4)
Rick Santorum: 3 (2)
Jon Huntsman: 1 (2)
And what do things look like if we take Palin out of the mix? Well, it's a two-man race between Perry and Romney — other than those two, only Gingrich breaks into double-digits, at 11%. Here's the trend:
The one bit of good news for Romney was that he does slightly better against President Obama than does Rick Perry. Romney trails Obama by a one-point margin, 49%-48%, while Perry trails by five, 51%-46%.
It's worth keeping in mind that this is just one poll. After the pounding that Perry has taken (and delivered to himself) over the past couple of weeks, it's hard to imagine that Romney could still be trailing. And PPP says that its Florida polling reflects a post-debate shift away from Perry and towards Romney, so CNN's poll isn't the last word. But if Romney isn't solidly beating Perry by now, it's one hell of a statement about the weakness of his campaign.