The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Herman Cain leading the Republican presidential race, while the latest Rasmussen poll shows Cain tied for first with Mitt Romney. The NBC/WSJ poll shows Cain leading Romney by 4 percentage points, 27 to 23 percent. Two months ago, Cain was at 5 percent, while Romney’s tally has remained unchanged (at 23 percent). The poll shows Cain as having a net favorability rating among “GOP primary voters” of +46 points (52 percent “positive,” 6 percent “negative”), while Romney’s net favorability rating is +35 points (51 to 16 percent).

The NBC/WSJ poll shows Rick Perry in third place (at 16 percent — down from 38 percent two months ago), followed by Ron Paul (11 percent — up from 9), Newt Gingrich (8 percent — up from 5), Michele Bachman (5 percent — down from 8), Jon Huntsman (3 percent — up from 2), and Rick Santorum (1 percent — down from 3).