SHOCK POLL: Herman Cain Leads GOP Nationally! (PPP Poll has Romney trailing by 8 points)

Business Insider ^ | 10/12/2011 | Zeke Miller

[SeekAndFind]

Businessman Herman Cain has risen to the top of a national poll of Republican primary voters, upending the GOP field yet again this cycle.

Cain has the support of 30 percent of Republicans in the Public Policy Polling survey, trailed by Mitt Romney at 22 percent, Newt Gingrich at 15 percent, and Rick Perry at 14 percent. Cain is also the second choice of 24 percent of those polled — the highest of any candidate.

In a two-person race, Romney would lead Perry 48-38, Cain would lead Romney 48-36, and Cain would destroy Perry 55-27.

The poll was conducted before last night's Washington Post-Bloomberg debate, in which Cain alienated some members of the tea party (his largest constituency) by saying he admired Alan Greenspan's leadership of the Federal Reserve.

PPP has a checkered history with polling — and this poll has a VERY large 4.5 percent margin of error — so don't read too much into this just yet.

[BarnacleCenturion]

“I doubt there will be any clear leader until after South Carolina’s or even Florida’s primary.”

That would go against over half a century of history where the two man race has been defined by the winners in Iowa and New Hampshire.

[netmilsmom]

>>he failed to realize that an endorsement is not a personality transplant.<<

I spewed cherry tomato seeds all over my screen....LOL!!!!!1

[nutmeg]

Whoa!

[Grunthor]

(Plus I would love to see Newt debate Joe Biden)

That would be like killing a fly with a shotgun.

[Lady Lucky]

Agree. Newt is the antidote to Romney, but unfortunately too many people (who ought to know better) are being diverted by the Music Man, Herman Cain. That 9-9-9 nostrum is 99.9% snake oil.

[Fred]

Spoken like a true Paultard

[netmilsmom]

You signed up yesterday to post this?

And I think you signed in to Breitbart and the Blaze to post with almost identical wording.

Mitt, is that you?

[Grunthor]

I think Cain is topped out right now. The question is “can he stay there?” I think yes. Lack of money will matter little in a media saturated culture like ours AND with the amount of debates on the schedule.

Each debate where Perry underperforms and Cain remains as the only viable conservative to Romney helps Cain. I say bring on more debates.

I will say that I am beginning to have questions about 999, I’d prefer a straight Fair Tax.

[netmilsmom]

Is THAT where this is coming from? Paulbots. They are everywhere.

[BenKenobi]

Cain was climbing the rungs back in May before Bachmann took off and then Perry took off. Now Cain’s caught up again and passed them both.

The challenge for Cain has always been name recognition. His intensity scores have always been way higher than the other candidates, which explains the polling behaviour that we see.

[sand88]

Regular people are sick and tired of “elite” political class. Romney is a proud member of the arrogant political class.

[netmilsmom]

OMG!! NO! Not Graham. How about Allen West?

[BenKenobi]

I don’t think he’s topped out yet.

He’s only got 60 percent name recognition at this point. All the other contenders are over 80 percent. Even Bachmann.

[Biggirl]

The new zombies.

[Vigilanteman]

The way the polls are going now, I think it more likely that Herman Cain comes out on top and Mitt or Rick has to exchange their fund raising prowess for the 2nd spot on the ticket. Herman would have to take it. He needs the money and he's no spring chicken. Reagan was 68 during the 1980 election. Herman Cain will be 70 in 2016.

Even the great Ronald Reagan had to pick a RINO for the VP slot to unite the party and win.

[Grunthor]

I hope you are correct. I think that if the trend continues Herman will take Iowa, Mitt New Hampshire and then we head south. Cain territory.

Mitt won’t win a state in the south.

[sand88]

That 9-9-9 nostrum is 99.9% snake oil.

If we can get Cain to push a 9-9-0 (no sales tax) plan, with the slashing of government to be on a downward trend towards 18%, then 12%, then we have a winner.

Government at all levels needs to be dramatically reduced.

[Sudetenland]

Maybe, but this is an unusual election year. We have a disastrous President, a very motivated Republican electorate, and 13 more debates between now and March 19th.

There are no compelling reasons for anyone to bow out--certainly not until after February; as I said, it won't require much money to stay in the game. Look at how well Santorum did in the Iowa Straw Poll with almost no money but a whole lot of foot work and retail campaigning.

Clearly, I'm no expert and you could be correct, but I just see tons of opportunity for a really competitive race until late because of all of these debates. I think this is a very good thing for the party and the voters. We will have a very good idea about the folks for whom we are voting by the end and whoever comes out on top will be a very powerful debater and candidate--as long as the candidates save their long knives for the Democrats and not each other.

[Grunthor]

Of the two I’d prefer Perry but is there no third choice out there that is A) from a swing state and B) is sitting on a mountain of cash and C) not currently running for President?

[SamAdams76]

The 12th Amendment makes this impossible unless either one of them changes official residency.

That's not the way I interpret the text of this amendment. Below is the pertinent section:

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves...

This passage seems to refer to the electors, not the candidates themselves. So if I interpret this correctly, it appears that only the electors in Georgia would not be able to cast votes for both Cain and Gingrich. However, the electors in the other 49 states would be able to do so.

Of course Georgia is a key state for the GOP to win so I can see why we would not want that ticket for that reason. But this should not disqualify them from running in the other 49 states.

Finally, GIngrich appears to be a resident of Virginia currently, so this amendment might not even come into play.