Washington Post/ABC News Poll - National GOP Primary

[tsai3904]

National (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_100211.html)
9/29 - 10/2
Unknown number of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents
+/-6.0%

Results in parenthesis from National (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_090111.html) poll conducted 8/29 - 9/1.

Announced Candidates:

Romney 25% (25%)
Cain 16% (4%)
Perry 16% (29%)
Paul 11% (10%)
Bachmann 7% (8%)
Gingrich 7% (6%)
Santorum 2% (3%)
Huntsman 1% (1%)


With Christie:

Romney 22%
Perry 15%
Cain 14%
Paul 11%
Christie 11%
Gingrich 7%
Bachmann 6%
Santorum 2%
Huntsman 1%


With Christie and Palin:

Romney 21%
Cain 14%
Perry 14%
Christie 10%
Paul 9%
Palin 9%
Gingrich 6%
Bachmann 4%
Santorum 1%
Huntsman 1%


Article regarding poll:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rick-perry-slips-herman-cain-rises-in-bid-for-gop-nomination-poll-finds/2011/10/03/gIQASiJiJL_story.html

[Fermli]

first!

within striking distance...

[z9000]

deleted

[CaptainAmerica]

the media has propelled cain. yeah,its pretty sickening isn't it.

[ventron]

We're the only ones who don't drop with Christie in the race.

Puh-leeze Christie, change your mind and enter...

[VictorB]

This is great, IMO. We have not lost any support with Cain's "surge". He's picked up all of Perry's switched voters. Wait until the next debate when people start asking Cain real questions. He will crash and burn eventually. A man with no political experience and awful ideas like his will not go far. We continue to stay right in it.

BTO will be extremely important and I've started saving now for it.

[bluesc]

This makes me very happy. A lot of people here were worried about the Fox poll. His support hasn't gone anywhere :D

Now, Perry will drop below us, Cain will eventually sink, and only Ron and potentially Christie will be there to pick up the support. Is Ron polling 2nd possible? Hell yeah.

[anaconda]

Cain's numbers have to be bullshit.

[anaconda]

This is great, IMO. We have not lost any support with Cain's "surge". He's picked up all of Perry's switched voters. Wait until the next debate when people start asking Cain real questions. He will crash and burn eventually. A man with no political experience and awful ideas like his will not go far. We continue to stay right in it.

BTO will be extremely important and I've started saving now for it.

Cain is a total buffoon.

[bluesc]

Cain's numbers have to be bullshit.

Not at all. He had the mother of all media bumps. Hannity had him on, interviews across all 3 networks, hundreds of articles, interviews on radio shows, ect. The bump is very real. It won't last though.

[teacherone]

Cain's numbers have to be bullshit.

why? poll seems accurate.

[Zarn Solen]

According to Wall Street Journal, Christie promised Whitman he wouldn't run. He needed her for a fundraiser. She wants to back Mitt.

If he did run, he would balloon with support following the announcement. Unlike the others, Christie would keep it together much better. He is my governor. I know he has enough in him to do it. However, he is late (organization would be a major hassle), he made a promise indirectly to the establishment, and it just makes sense for him to try for 2016 (more experience).

[TheTexan]

Hell yeah indeed. This has always been coming down to Romney and Paul, and it's getting close to that point.

[Chowder]

Still it's good that Perry is dropping!

[parocks]

We're the only ones who don't drop with Christie in the race.

Puh-leeze Christie, change your mind and enter...

that poll indicated that christie hurts romney the most, and us not at all. that sounds about right.

[John F Kennedy III]

Cain's numbers have to be bullshit.

They are.

[parocks]

Still it's good that Perry is dropping!

agreed.

I'd say still keep hitting Perry.

[michaelkellenger]

OMG STOP SAYING CAIN'S NUMBERS ARE BS.

He won the Presidency 5 straw poll, which the last three nominees won. The media makes a huge deal about it, giving a(n actual) boost to Cain. Cain's numbers are real, but will not last. But to say his number are BS is speculation and without basis.

[TheTexan]

Don't worry about Cain. They're just throwing shit candidates at the wall to see which ones stick.

Only one sticky enough so far is Romney.. the others.. well.. they just slide down leaving a trail of gooey shit on the wall.

[Jeremy Tyler]

It is annoying though. Remember back in 07 when they constantly pumped up Candidates. Thats how Huckabee won Iowa and how Mccain won the nomination. All there different flavor of the weeks that the media creates gets on my damn nerves.

[afwjam]

2.5 million dollar push by the campaign and we are into second place where it matters, Iowa and New Hampshire.

[michaelkellenger]

Come on guys, it is early. We are approaching primary season but we still have 3 months before voting. We've seen how these polls change wildly. This is a wide open race. Romney, Perry, Cain, Paul, even Gingrich and yes even Bachmann (if she wins Iowa) can win this nomination. Who knows what happens if Christie or Palin jumps in. This is the most wide open nomination probably in recent history in either of the parties.

[RP Supporter]

Good poll. I've seen nothing that indicates that Perry's support is going to stop falling anytime soon.(Especially with the whole race controversy) And Cain pissed people off by playing the race card and had to backpeddle, hurting his cred as well. I don't think either of them will stay this high for much longer.

I honestly don't think Romney will ever go higher then what he is now. Republicans seem to loath him even more than McCain, probably because of healthcare. The question is, will the conservative voters rally around Paul, or will they continue to split their votes and let Romney win? Paul's their only viable option to stop a Mitt nod(assuming Christie does not get in) and I hope they realize it when Cain fades.

They tried Bachmann.

They tried Perry.

They tried Cain. And tried him again.

They seem to be trying Gingrich.

If a few of them switch to Paul, this becomes a two person race. :)

[anaconda]

why? poll seems accurate.

One straw poll win where (I think) people can vote more than once? Something aint right.

[tribute_13]

Not at all. He had the mother of all media bumps. Hannity had him on, interviews across all 3 networks, hundreds of articles, interviews on radio shows, ect. The bump is very real. It won't last though.

I had the worst day of my life today. And I realized one thing from the experience. Life is full of struggles. If you struggle with one aspect of your life you have two decisions. Give up on that struggle and incorporate whatever consequence of compromise that may arise, or you can fight it until you get the desired outcome. Cain received a bump because Romney is manipulating the field. Romney told his delegates at P5 to vote for Cain so Perry's campaign would finally crash and burn. RCP included the biased media polls post P5. It's obvious to us that including media polls in national averages is a disservice to the American people. But Americans don't want to hear truth, they don't want the inconvenience of conspiracy. As sad as it seems, we are on the ass end of the bell curve. The 10% that's too intelligent and too in tune with our mental faculties. We care about philosophy, we care about ethics, we carve our own path in the world. We are too few and too far between. But like all struggles we have to persevere. We can accept the paradigm or change the paradigm. We represent so many things. Enlightenment, freedom, personal growth. But the other 80% does not concern themselves with these things because there is already a 10% cross section that does it for them. We need to understand our role. We are not educators. We are shepherds. It is our job, a moral imperative to lead those who are too afraid or unaccustomed to think for themselves. They are easily manipulated. This is not an election, this is a war of ideologies. The establishment is the embodiment of evil. Manipulative, greedy, and willing to sacrifice anyone without a second thought for their own security. This is much more than an election, this is a war.

[Sentinelrv]

2.5 million dollar push by the campaign and we are into second place where it matters, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Followed by a $6,000,000 Black This Out push to put us in 1st, lol.

[king_nothing_]

+/-6.0% margin of error? Would it be too much to ask for them to get a statistically significant fucking sample size?

[Karsten]

Good poll. We've got to keep this in perspective. 11% vs. 1% back in 2007. Don't worry so much about the media blackout. Black this out will be huge. Three months is an eternity in politics, and going from 11% to the 20s and 30s in that period of time has been done before many many times.

[Karsten]

I'm also pretty happy Bachman has clearly dropped even in the eyes of the lamestream media. She's the one person who sounds enough like Paul to hurt us, especially in Iowa. We need her to drop as far as she can.

[limequat]

Nvrmnd

[rprprs]

This is great, IMO. We have not lost any support with Cain's "surge". He's picked up all of Perry's switched voters. Wait until the next debate when people start asking Cain real questions.....

Um..and who might be the one to do that? Frank Luntz?

[limequat]

Hey, RCP fucked up the numbers! They used Romney numbers from one sample, and RP numbers from another! It should say 11 % for Ron not 9. Goddammit

Emailed RCP, hopefully they fix this quick.

[specsaregood]

This is great, IMO. We have not lost any support with Cain's "surge". He's picked up all of Perry's switched voters. Wait until the next debate when people start asking Cain real questions. He will crash and burn eventually. A man with no political experience and awful ideas like his will not go far. We continue to stay right in it.


Maybe that is why he is taking a month off from campaigning...to keep from effing it up.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1003/Herman-Cain-leaving-the-campaign-trail-Why-now

[Badger Paul]

"This is great, IMO. We have not lost any support with Cain's "surge". He's picked up all of Perry's switched voters. Wait until the next debate when people start asking Cain real questions. He will crash and burn eventually. A man with no political experience and awful ideas like his will not go far. We continue to stay right in it. "

Exactly. And while this result is good what's important is what's happening on the ground in New Hampshire in Iowa and that's where we have Cain beat and a lot of other candidates beat by a mile. We just have to keep getting stronger on this level.

[sailingaway]

yeah,its pretty sickening isn't it.

We're just pissed because when RON had the 'rising polls and straw poll wins' they never propelled him with multiple Sunday news shows and articles about surging.

Cain won't stay there, he's a placeholder until someone the 'establishment likes' gets in and captures the imagination of the base. At this point I think they are starting to piss off the base by coming in this late. The establishment will be ok staying with Romney if no one comes in, but that is where the race will really start to get interesting.

I am glad that after all this push down of Ron and push up of Cain, Ron is still in double digits, frankly.

[sailingaway]

Hey, RCP fucked up the numbers! They used Romney numbers from one sample, and RP numbers from another! It should say 11 % for Ron not 9. Goddammit

I hope the campaign clarifies. The RCP average is huge.

[rich34]

Cain has gotten softball questions in every debate since the second one due to the fact that he was easily exposed when asked hard questions right on the spot. He dropped severely after that debate and it seems because of media manipulation the public has all but forgotten it. Doesn't matter, financial numbers will tell a different story and so will the upcoming debates when Cain is given more time to blunder over what he thinks.

[69360]

Emailed RCP, hopefully they fix this quick.

RCP is right. They used the among R voters numbers.

Everything is fine though. Cain's camapaign is ending, Perry is sliding downhill fast.

If by some chance Christie enter the race, RP is insantly "top tier". Christie will draw from Romney and Perry, but not Paul.

[KingNothing]

So, if Christie enters.... uhh.... Paul wins Iowa?

[wgadget]

OMG STOP SAYING CAIN'S NUMBERS ARE BS.

He won the Presidency 5 straw poll, which the last three nominees won. The media makes a huge deal about it, giving a(n actual) boost to Cain. Cain's numbers are real, but will not last. But to say his number are BS is speculation and without basis.

The P5 straw poll was run "sloppily," shall we say? They closed the polls even before they were supposed to open, and 24% of the delegates who paid $175 to get in didn't even get to vote. Between 800-900 people! Say it wasn't rigged.

[KingNothing]

OMG STOP SAYING CAIN'S NUMBERS ARE BS.

He won the Presidency 5 straw poll, which the last three nominees won. The media makes a huge deal about it, giving a(n actual) boost to Cain. Cain's numbers are real, but will not last. But to say his number are BS is speculation and without basis.


This post rules. Cain is getting the Bachmann treatment. The media LOVES narratives, and winning a straw poll that "holds predictive value" over Perry and Romney IS a story worth telling.

[69360]

So, if Christie enters.... uhh.... Paul wins Iowa?

I believe if Christie enters, RP will win Iowa and second in NH.

But, I don't think Christie will enter.

[KingNothing]

Hey, RCP fucked up the numbers! They used Romney numbers from one sample, and RP numbers from another! It should say 11 % for Ron not 9. Goddammit


I saw that too. I'm sure it was an accident. :rolleyes:

[KingNothing]

I believe if Christie enters, RP will win Iowa and second in NH.

But, I don't think Christie will enter.

Agreed on both counts. That said, I think Paul's got at least a decent shot of doing that even without Christie entering the race.

[wgadget]

Don't worry about Cain. They're just throwing shit candidates at the wall to see which ones stick.

Only one sticky enough so far is Romney.. the others.. well.. they just slide down leaving a trail of gooey shit on the wall.


Did anyone else watch the Dylan Ratigan video of him speaking at Occupy Wall Street? He said look at the elections...The guy with the most MONEY always wins. I think that's why Romney is the "frontrunner" so far.

[NeoconTea]

It looks like Sarah Palin of all people is taking away some Ron Paul votes. Who ever woulda thought?

[69360]

I saw that too. I'm sure it was an accident. :rolleyes:

RCP used the among R voters numbers for all candidates and they are correct.

[Brett85]

RCP is right. They used the among R voters numbers.

Everything is fine though. Cain's camapaign is ending, Perry is sliding downhill fast.

If by some chance Christie enter the race, RP is insantly "top tier". Christie will draw from Romney and Perry, but not Paul.

So RCP didn't include independents in the numbers they posted? I don't see how they got any of the numbers they posted.

[69360]

So RCP didn't include independents in the numbers they posted? I don't see how they got any of the numbers they posted.

RCP used the among R voters numbers from the WP poll. It's on the WP website and RCP has them correct in their average.

These are the actual numbers-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_090111.html

[limequat]

RCP used the among R voters numbers from the WP poll. It's on the WP website and RCP has them correct in their average.

These are the actual numbers-

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_090111.html

OK, I see it now. Thanks for correcting me.

[freejack]

Don't worry guys. These numbers will make Cain overconfident and he'll eventually slip up and say something uber-stupid that will deep-six his poll numbers. The turtle and then rabbit story is a perfect analogy for this race. As Ron's numbers hold firm, his opponents are falling by the wayside.

[ZanZibar]

Cain's bump is artificial and won't last long. Besides, he doesn't have the $ for it.

[JamesButabi]

Oh look. Another flavor of the week :)

[tsai3904]

RCP used the among R voters numbers from the WP poll. It's on the WP website and RCP has them correct in their average.

There are two polls: (1) among Republican voters only and (2) among Republican and Republican-leaning Independents only

The question is why not use the poll with Republican-leaning Independents. In Washington Post's article on their own poll, they only describe the poll that includes Republican-leaning Independents.

[RDM]

National (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_100211.html)
9/29 - 10/2
Unknown number of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents
+/-6.0%

Results in parenthesis from National (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_090111.html) poll conducted 8/29 - 9/1.

Announced Candidates:

Romney 25% (25%)
Cain 16% (4%)
Perry 16% (29%)
Paul 11% (10%)
Bachmann 7% (8%)
Gingrich 7% (6%)
Santorum 2% (3%)
Huntsman 1% (1%)


With Christie:

Romney 22%
Perry 15%
Cain 14%
Paul 11%
Christie 11%
Gingrich 7%
Bachmann 6%
Santorum 2%
Huntsman 1%


With Christie and Palin:

Romney 21%
Cain 14%
Perry 14%
Christie 10%
Paul 9%
Palin 9%
Gingrich 6%
Bachmann 4%
Santorum 1%
Huntsman 1%


Article regarding poll:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rick-perry-slips-herman-cain-rises-in-bid-for-gop-nomination-poll-finds/2011/10/03/gIQASiJiJL_story.html

Real Clear Politics is definitely smearing Ron Paul. Go look at the website Polls.

They are using numbers from all three different polls to manipulate the standings Using Paul's numbers from the what if with Christie and Palin and using the Romney numbers from the first poll without Christie and Palin. It's all screwed up.

[69360]

Haven't they always used the republican voters numbers? Anyone know?

[parocks]

We need to do Voter Registration.

We are the only candidate to do better with All Leaning Republicans than Registered voters. 11 to 9. I wouldn't be surprised if we were leading the unregistereds.

[69360]

Real Clear Politics is definitely smearing Ron Paul. Go look at the website Polls.

They are using numbers from all three different polls to manipulate the standings Using Paul's numbers from the what if with Christie and Palin and using the Romney numbers from the first poll without Christie and Palin. It's all screwed up.

They didn't use numbers from 3 different polls. They used the numbers from the R voters poll. All the numbers they used line up with that.

It's in the link I posted above to the WP site.

[tsai3904]

They are using numbers from all three different polls to manipulate the standings Using Paul's numbers from the what if with Christie and Palin and using the Romney numbers from the first poll without Christie and Palin. It's all screwed up.

It's not screwed up.

Look here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_100211.html

Look for this question:


21/23/24. (IF WOULD VOTE FOR CHRISTIE OR PALIN) If neither (Christie) nor (Palin) run, for whom would you vote? Which candidate would you lean toward?

Look at the fourth column. That is where RCP gets their numbers.

The question is why does RCP choose to use the numbers from the fourth column (Republican voters) rather than the first column (Republican and Republican-leaning Independent voters).

[parocks]

They didn't use numbers from 3 different polls. They used the numbers from the R voters poll. All the numbers they used line up with that.

It's in the link I posted above to the WP site.

correct

Registered Voters

10/2/11
Mitt Romney 25
Herman Cain 17
Rick Perry 17
Ron Paul 9
Newt Gingrich 9
Michele Bachmann 7

[sorianofan]

the media has propelled cain.
It's scary, they are king makes of the 30% no deduction income tax.

[justatrey]

Cain's numbers are real!

I've noticed a big increase of Cain supporters on YouTube and Facebook lately. This is proof of the power of the mainstream media. If Paul got the same treatment after his California win, he would have gotten the same type of boost.

Anyway, too bad Christie announced he's not running today because it was going to hurt Romney's numbers but not touch Ron's.

[Carole]

Does anyone know if the pollsters are still calling only landlines or are they including cellphones?

This would make a huge difference in the polling.

[tsai3904]

Does anyone know if the pollsters are still calling only landlines or are they including cellphones?


This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone September 29-October 2 2011, among a random national sample of 1,002 adults, including landline and cell phone-only respondents.

They don't specify the breakdown between landline and cell phone and they also don't specify how many were Republican or Republican-leaning Independents among the 1,002 adults.

[HeyArchie]

Cain's numbers are real!

I've noticed a big increase of Cain supporters on YouTube and Facebook lately. This is proof of the power of the mainstream media. If Paul got the same treatment after his California win, he would have gotten the same type of boost.

Anyway, too bad Christie announced he's not running today because it was going to hurt Romney's numbers but not touch Ron's.
Yeah. Herman Cain started popping up - written in chalk - on my college campus. Someone put $ next to his name so now it reads "$herman Cain" lol.

I've seen some RP chalk too though.

[trey4sports]

I'm not worried about Cain. I'm glad to see our national polling stabilize. We need to be laser focused on Iowa, and NH polling.

[pauliticalfan]

So if Herman Cain rising means Perry tanking and us staying stable (actually gaining a point) that's good. Herman Cain has less $ and will be easier to beat down the road.

[Nathan Hale]

Contact RealClearPolitics.com - they're reporting the results as:

Romney 25
Cain 17
Perry 17
Gingrich 9
Paul 9
etc

And this is what counts toward their average!!!

[sailingaway]

Contact RealClearPolitics.com - they're reporting the results as:

Romney 25
Cain 17
Perry 17
Gingrich 9
Paul 9
etc

And this is what counts toward their average!!!

guys this is VERY important. They have Ron's numbers wrong AND gingrich's numbers wrong so Gingrich is above Ron in the poll average AND they have a scroll running onthe top of their front page showing Gingrich at 9 (it's 7) and Ron at 9 (its 11)

[tsai3904]

guys this is VERY important. They have Ron's numbers wrong AND gingrich's numbers wrong so Gingrich is above Ron in the poll average AND they have a scroll running onthe top of their front page showing Gingrich at 9 (it's 7) and Ron at 9 (its 11)

There's two polls. One that includes Republicans only and one that includes Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents.

RCP chose to include the poll that includes Republicans only.

You can see the two polls here:



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postabcpoll_100211.html

Look for this question:


21/23/24. (IF WOULD VOTE FOR CHRISTIE OR PALIN) If neither (Christie) nor (Palin) run, for whom would you vote? Which candidate would you lean toward?

The first column includes Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents. The fourth column includes Republicans only.

[sailingaway]

There's two polls. One that includes Republicans only and one that includes Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents.

RCP chose to include the poll that includes Republicans only.

You can see the two polls here:

Gee whiz, wonder why they chose the irrelevant one?

In any event, I was very polite in my email, noted their error and said I hoped they'd fix it. I still consider it an error. Even 'gop leaning independents' ignores the Dems that may change parties to vote, and the independents who don't USUALLY consider themselves 'gop leaning' but are Ron Paul leaning because of war and civil liberties.

[sailingaway]

The Orlando Sentinel, bless its heart, notes that Ron Paul has gone UP one point in the WaPo poll -- to 11%

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/10/another-poll-another-measure-of-perrys-plummet-this-time-national.html

[D.A.S.]

This poll is good news! It's taking some wind out of the anointed "frontrunners" and pushes everyone closer together.

Very happy to see Dr. Paul edging up slightly in his support. This is a very good position to be in for his upcoming media blitz.

[FSP-Rebel]

This poll is good news! It's taking some wind out of the anointed "frontrunners" and pushes everyone closer together.

Very happy to see Dr. Paul edging up slightly in his support. This is a very good position to be in for his upcoming media blitz.
Anyone know when this starts?

[trey4sports]

bump for good numbers.

[PaulConventionWV]

Every time I see a national poll thread anymore, I prepare to be disappointed. Gladly, it seems we are growing ever so slightly in this one and second place is within our grasp. Now is the time to work harder than ever to push Paul into that second spot before the media knows what hit 'em!

[TheTexan]

Every time I see a national poll thread anymore, I prepare to be disappointed. Gladly, it seems we are growing ever so slightly in this one and second place is within our grasp. Now is the time to work harder than ever to push Paul into that second spot before the media knows what hit 'em!

Yep. Even if our 10% is staying relatively constant for now, the other candidates are simply dropping like flies.

That's a good position to be in.

[kazmlsj]

I think the Cain attention buy the media is a silent slap in the face to the RP campaign.

We will turn the other cheek and forge ahead!

[sailingaway]

I think the Cain attention buy the media is a silent slap in the face to the RP campaign.

We will turn the other cheek and forge ahead!

We just have to get Ron money for ads and direct mail. And keep his plane fueled so he can make as many personal appearances as possible, because that is how he comes across best, with no filter.

[specsaregood]

Yep. Even if our 10% is staying relatively constant for now, the other candidates are simply dropping like flies.
That's a good position to be in.

A solid hardcore/committed 10% stands to do VERY well in all the caucus states, even up against a 30% soft-support base.

[tsai3904]

A solid hardcore/committed 10% stands to do VERY well in all the caucus states, even up against a 30% soft-support base.

One good thing about the states moving earlier is that the soft supporters might decide to stay home when there's harsh weather in early January while our supporters will walk in the snow to get to the caucus/polling place.

[mconder]

Just in...Christie is NOT running for president.

[anaconda]

I had the worst day of my life today. And I realized one thing from the experience. Life is full of struggles. If you struggle with one aspect of your life you have two decisions. Give up on that struggle and incorporate whatever consequence of compromise that may arise, or you can fight it until you get the desired outcome. Cain received a bump because Romney is manipulating the field. Romney told his delegates at P5 to vote for Cain so Perry's campaign would finally crash and burn. RCP included the biased media polls post P5. It's obvious to us that including media polls in national averages is a disservice to the American people. But Americans don't want to hear truth, they don't want the inconvenience of conspiracy. As sad as it seems, we are on the ass end of the bell curve. The 10% that's too intelligent and too in tune with our mental faculties. We care about philosophy, we care about ethics, we carve our own path in the world. We are too few and too far between. But like all struggles we have to persevere. We can accept the paradigm or change the paradigm. We represent so many things. Enlightenment, freedom, personal growth. But the other 80% does not concern themselves with these things because there is already a 10% cross section that does it for them. We need to understand our role. We are not educators. We are shepherds. It is our job, a moral imperative to lead those who are too afraid or unaccustomed to think for themselves. They are easily manipulated. This is not an election, this is a war of ideologies. The establishment is the embodiment of evil. Manipulative, greedy, and willing to sacrifice anyone without a second thought for their own security. This is much more than an election, this is a war.

Friggin beautiful piece of writing. And highly inspirational.

[sailingaway]

Just in...Christie is NOT running for president.

Yet they still include him in the polls...

[SamuraisWisdom]

This is great, IMO. We have not lost any support with Cain's "surge". He's picked up all of Perry's switched voters. Wait until the next debate when people start asking Cain real questions. He will crash and burn eventually. A man with no political experience and awful ideas like his will not go far. We continue to stay right in it.

BTO will be extremely important and I've started saving now for it.

That bolded part should be a clue. It seems the supporters Perry lost to Cain are people who are just reacting to media hype. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar percentage switched to the next candidate who gains media attention.

[sailingaway]

That bolded part should be a clue. It seems the supporters Perry lost to Cain are people who are just reacting to media hype. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar percentage switched to the next candidate who gains media attention.

I think that likely.

[bluesc]

That bolded part should be a clue. It seems the supporters Perry lost to Cain are people who are just reacting to media hype. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar percentage switched to the next candidate who gains media attention.

That is the "clueless" vote. We pick them up when we start winning primaries and caucuses. They are the reason that we will not be polling 1st nationally before next year.

[anewvoice]

the media has propelled cain.

Why are people this dumb? Honestly, baaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[Diurdi]

Cain is really clueless to most issues. He's basically learning as he goes. I don't think he'll last. Romney still seems to be the most solid opponent.

[michaelkellenger]

Herman Cain's surge proves people care more about how one says something, the tone and perception versus the actual issue, philosophy and principle.

[bolidew]

Don't worry guys. These numbers will make Cain overconfident and he'll eventually slip up and say something uber-stupid that will deep-six his poll numbers. The turtle and then rabbit story is a perfect analogy for this race. As Ron's numbers hold firm, his opponents are falling by the wayside.

Romney's numbers hold pretty firm too, too bad his number is way ahead.

[ONUV]

I hope voters aren't into playing race games.

[sailingaway]

Romney's numbers hold pretty firm too, too bad his number is way ahead.

but he hasn't been dissed by anyone yet, the conservative bracket race is still running against itself.

[anaconda]

I hope voters aren't into playing race games.

No...that could never happen....

[sailingaway]

bump to compare with new Pew poll