Texas Gov. Rick Perry still leads former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Gallup’s latest poll of the Republican presidential primary, but his lead has shrunk by almost half.
In August, Gallup’s first post-Perry entrance poll, Perry led Romney by 12, 29 percent to 17 percent. In today’s poll, Perry leads Romney by just 7, 31 percent to 24 percent. Romney’s rise seems to be coming at the expense of Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., whose support has dropped from 10 percent in August to 5 percent today. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, treaded water at 13 percent in both polls.
Romney also maintained his narrow lead over President Obama in a general election match-up, while Perry saw his numbers fall. In August, Romney beat Obama 48 percent to 46 percent among registered voters and today he bests Obama 49 percent to 47 percent. But while Perry was tied with Obama back in August at 47 percent, he is now 5 points behind Obama, 50 percent to 45 percent among registered voters.
