A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds Rick Perry leading the 2012 GOP pack, with Mitt Romney a distant second, and Ron Paul rounding out the top three. Iowa Straw Poll winner Michele Bachmann, under fire last week for her comments against protecting girls against cancer, placed fourth, tying with Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. Perry earned 31% of the registered voters polled, Romney 24%, and Paul, 13%. Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich each got 5%.
Bachmann has also been attacked for her recent comments claiming that anti-gay bullying of schoolchildren should not be a federal issue. Bachmann represents a district that has a large incidence of teen suicides, nine since last year.
The poll also found a hypothetical race between Perry and Obama would deliver a win to the President, while a race between Romney and the President would deliver a win to the former Massachusetts Governor.
Support for the two leading contenders is distinctly different:
• Perry is stronger among Republicans and independents who lean Republican, the voters who settle nominations. In a head-to-head race, 49% say they would vote for Perry, 39% for Romney.
• Romney does better among the swing voters who hold the key to most general elections. Among all registered voters, Romney slightly bests President Obama 49%-47%, while Perry lags behind the president, 45% to 50%.
Perry is also a more polarizing figure.
In the poll, 44% say they definitely would not vote for Perry; 35% say that of Romney. Looked at another way, 62% say would either definitely vote for Romney or consider doing so; 53% say that of Perry.
Perry has increased his standing a bit, compared with results from Gallup’s daily poll in late August, but Romney has narrowed the gap between them. Then, Perry led Romney, 29%-17%. His 12-point margin is down to 7 points.
Bachmann was at 10% in that late-August survey and at 13% in early August, before Perry entered the race.
The Republican field is slated to meet Thursday for its third debate in three weeks, this time in Orlando. Also participating will be former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, at 2% in the poll, and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, at 1%.
Romney has been making the electability argument against Perry, who dislodged the former Massachusetts governor as the leader in national polls. He argues that Perry’s blunt views on Social Security’s viability — the Texas governor calls it a “Ponzi scheme” for younger workers — and other issues will make it hard for him to win in November.