Free Republic

Newt Gingrich has suddenly taken a commanding lead which will only be buoyed by recent reports that Herman Cain will indeed endorse the former Speaker today. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney sees his first appreciable drop. The data suggests that for the first time some of his base may be defecting to another candidate, presumably Gingrich.

Newt Gingrich’s role as the latest, and likely last ABR (anyone but Romney) candidate has solidified in his numbers. Mitt Romney is in the same general range he has always been. Herman Cain? Goodbye. Rick Perry has actually fallen below Ron Paul. In a surprising development, Jon Huntsman is now 20 percent ahead of Rick Santorum! However, that amounts to only 0.4 percentage points. What will be most interesting in the coming months will be to see where the supporters of the candidates in third through eighth move. The race may not be as close as it appears today between...

"The significant trends continue and Newt Gingrich takes the lead."

The Political Derby Composite Poll is a tool that takes the most recent major polls and weights their results based on poll age, sample type, and margin of error each day using a proprietary formula. Unlike other poll compilations, this is not a simple average. The polls that make up the PD Composite are well-known reputable national polls who sample “likely primary voters” and “registered voters”, as opposed to only “adults, including, but not limited to: NBC News/Wall Street Journal, Pew Research, Quinnipiac University, and Rasmussen Reports... The PD Composite will be updated in a regular post that will run...