Perry Still Leading, Oh and There Is Another Debate Tonight

Honestly? I'm already all debated out. Maybe we could at least go a week between debates, or something. Also, er...can anybody think of something else to do on a Monday evening in September? Whatever.

There will be a GOP candidate debate this evening at 8 Eastern on CNN. It's billed as the CNN/Tea Party Express debate.

Governor Perry has to be feeling pretty comfortable about his debate performance last week. No matter how underwhelmed we felt it hasn't hurt him any, and Romney's disgraceful attempt to scare seniors by serially misquoting Perry does not appear to have caught on.

The survey, released Monday morning, indicates that 30 percent of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP support Perry for their party's nomination, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 18 percent.

[...]

"Perry's support comes mostly from Republicans who support the tea party movement, although he has a statistically insignificant edge among non-tea party Republicans as well," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

"Perry doesn't simply have the most support in a hypothetical ballot - he also tops the list of GOP candidates on every personal quality tested," adds Holland.

Thirty-six percent, for example, see him as the strongest leader in the field, with Romney second at 21 percent. According to the poll, 35 percent say Perry is the Republican candidate most likely to get the economy moving again, with Romney in second at 26 percent.

Nearly three in ten say that Perry is the candidate who is most likely to fight for his beliefs, with Palin in second place at 23 percent and, significantly, Romney in a distant tie for fourth at just 11 percent.

Overall, the poll has Sarah Palin at 15 percent, Ron Paul at 13 percent, and Michelle Bachmann down to 4 percent (from 10 in the last survey).

posted by Gabriel Malor at 07:23 AM

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