Second National Poll Shows Romney Leading, Perry Fading, Cain on the Rise

There seems to be trouble brewing in undefeated Rick Perry land. The Texas governor, for the second consecutive national presidential preference poll, trailed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. But what might be a bit more disturbing for the Romney and Perry camps is the sudden rise of Atlanta businessman Herman Cain.

Romney returned to the lead in the national polls via Fox News last week, scoring 23 percent to Perry's 19 percent. ABC News/Washington Post corroborated the major shift in Republican electorate preference on Monday, tracking Romney at 25 percent to the governor's 17 percent.

From enthusiastically embracing Gov. Perry of Texas as soon as he entered the political fray (Aug. 13) and catapulting him into a double-digit lead over former front-runner Romney, numbers now indicate Perry has lost considerable ground. And instead of holding a strong second-place in what looked to be a one-on-one political slugfest in the making with Romney, Perry also found himself sharing the runner-up position with Cain, a tea party favorite that bested the governor in the recent Florida Straw Poll.

Where Cain trailed Perry by two points in the Fox News poll, he pulled even in the ABC News/Washington Post poll, which could be a sign of even further Perry campaign deterioration (the ABC/Post poll was conducted over days subsequent to the Fox News poll).

A look at the polls listed at Real Clear Politics indicates Perry began having problems shortly after his first debate appearance (the MSNBC/Politico debate on Sept. 7), where Romney grilled him over his eliminationist stance on Social Security. But his numbers slid further with poor performances in the following debates (both of which were in Florida) and most likely led to his diminished placement in the Florida Straw Poll, where he finished a distant second to Cain, 37 percent to 15 percent.

Perry's inability to regain traction on the Social Security issue (which is little different than those of his fellow Republicans) and embarrassing side issues (such as the racially offensive rock painting at a family-owned retreat) have been problematic. And it is not yet clear whether he will be able to find firm footing again.

Romney has kept up a steady mantra against the Obama administration throughout but does not appear able to rise above the 30 percent threshold. And Cain's appearance at the front of the pack is reminiscent of Rep. Michele Bachmann's push forward shortly after she declared her candidacy and did well in the first Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire.

Since Cain's following draws from much the same base as Bachmann's -- and to some extent Perry's -- it will be interesting to see if the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza can sustain the momentum he has built since the Florida debates and the Florida Straw Poll.

But Republican voters still seem spread out among the candidates, looking as if they're still mostly unsatisfied. Asked if they are satisfied with the choice of candidates, respondents to the ABC/Post poll said they were 9 percent "very" and 54 percent "somewhat" satisfied. In a comparable Fox News poll question of how "impressed" voters were with the current Republican choices for president, 7 percent were "very" and 31 percent were "somewhat" impressed with the field.

All the Republican candidates, it would appear, have plenty of work ahead of them convincing voters they should be the one to replace President Barack Obama in the White House. No longer the presumptive 2012 Republican nominee, Perry will have to do a little re-convincing -- or face a once in a career experience -- his first ever election loss.