Cain Leaps Past Perry, Nearly Ties Romney

Gallup poll shows Romney at 20%, Cain at 18%, Perry at 15%
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 11, 2011 8:43 AM CDT
Gallup Poll Shows Herman Cain Passing Rick Perry, Nearly Tying Mitt Romney for October
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain gestures during a speech at the Values Voter Summit on Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

It’s not a hoax or a dream: Herman Cain really has surged to the upper echelon in GOP primary polls. Cain more than tripled his support in Gallup’s October poll, jumping from 5% in September to 18%, just a hair behind Mitt Romney’s 20%. Rick Perry, meanwhile, plummeted from 31% to 15%. The result is roughly in line with last week’s polls showing Cain’s surge. The rest of the candidates were all in the single digits.

The tumult is unusual for Republicans, who have historically (with the exception of John McCain in 2008) picked a frontrunner early and stuck with him, Gallup notes. And given that a whopping 20% of the field is still undecided, “the race may remain fluid for some time." Romney for one plainly isn’t worried by Cain’s rise—last night he told a crowd in New Hampshire that Cain was a “terrific guy” and that they should “give him a look,” Politico reports. “Vote for either one of us and you’ll be happy." (More Gallup poll stories.)

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