Perry remains the GOP frontrunner, but gap with Romney narrows (The Ticket)

Perry and Romney (Phelan M. Ebenhack/Pool via AP)

Amid bad debate reviews and a defeat at last weekend's Florida straw poll, Rick Perry is facing the most trying days of his 2012 candidacy so far. But he does have one thing going for him: He's still the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

A new CNN/ORC International poll released Monday finds Perry with a smaller, but still notable advantage over his chief rival Mitt Romney. He leads Romney by 7 points, 28 percent to 21 percent. Two weeks ago, the same poll found Perry with a 12-point lead over Romney. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percent.

Some of Perry's momentum may have shifted to Newt Gingrich, whose support in the race doubled from 5 percent to 10 percent in the past two weeks.

The former House speaker is the only other GOP contender in double digits, according to the poll. Herman Cain, Ron Paul and Sarah Palin are tied at 7 percent; Michele Bachmann is at 4 percent; Rick Santorum is at 3 percent; and Jon Huntsman is at 1 percent.

When Palin is not included, the results are slightly but not substantially different. Perry jumps to 30 percent, followed by Romney (22 percent) and Gingrich (11 percent).

While Perry remains on top, the poll does offer some troubling data points for his campaign. Two weeks ago, Perry held a double-digit lead among both men and women, but there are now signs of a gender gap. Perry has a 17-point lead among male voters, while Romney has a 4-point lead among women.

The Texas governor has also seen a drop in support among Republicans who went to college. Earlier this month, he held a 13-point lead over Romney, but now the two are statistically tied. His 11-point lead over Romney among "suburban voters" has evaporated in the last two weeks, leaving the two tied at 28 percent support apiece.

Perhaps most troubling to his campaign, Perry has not improved on his performance against President Obama. According to the poll, Obama leads Perry in a projected match-up 51 percent to 46 percent among registered voters. By comparison, Obama and Romney are virtually tied, 49 percent to 48 percent.

Only Paul keeps pace with Romney and Perry against Obama. The president has a four point lead over the Texas congressman, 51 percent to 47 percent?a result that is within the poll's margin of error.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110926/el_yblog_theticket/perry-remains-the-gop-frontrunner-but-gap-with-romney-narrows

nassau bahamas iguana iguana nws local weather rembrandt louis xiv