Well, that was quick. But when a man of no governing experience save a pizza company bests a four-term governor of a major state, it's not looking too good. The key to the turn-around is the Tea Party, where the turn against Perry (almost certainly after he accused them of not having a heart) is getting brutal:
In early September, Perry had a 3-to-1 advantage over any other candidate among those “strongly” backing the tea party, but his supported has plummeted from 45 percent to 10 percent in this group … Among tea party supporters, Cain’s support has surged from 5 percent to 30 percent in a month. The businessman, who scored a surprise win at the Florida straw poll, now has the edge among solid tea partyers.
So barring Christie and Palin, Cain is now Romney's chief rival, which may partly explain the establishment suck-ups now circling back to the former Massachusetts governor. I have to say I find this rather encouraging. What we've seen of Perry's skills in the last few weeks show the atrophied muscles of an easy-goin' good ol' boy who hasn't seen any real competition in years. Romney, meanwhile, looks as if he has been in intensive training for months.
There are some other intriguing aspects of the WaPo poll as well. Republicans place jobs over debt as their first priority by a whopping 51 – 13 percent. There's been no real settling in support since July, with "strong" support for a candidate still only applying to 36 percent of voters (compared with 34 in July). Only 31 percent want Palin to run – but only a slightly larger 42 percent want Christie in the race (with a, er, hefty 34 percent opposed). And despite all this, enthusiasm and confidence among Republicans is high – and Obama's collapse in support this summer during the debt-ceiling fiasco appears to be resilient, especially among Independents. Something evaporated in July. My worry is that this will only encourage the kind of economic terrorism the GOP foisted on the country last summer. In their attempt to destroy the president – even at the expense of wounding the economy – the GOP succeeded.
The Dish 