Now that Chris Christie is officially out of the Republican primary, a national poll finds former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney taking the lead again, followed closely by businessman Herman Cain and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
In the Quinnipiac University poll, which has a 3.5 percent margin of error, Romney squeaks to the top at 22 percent with Cain at 17 percent (up from a tiny 5 percent in August). Perry, at 14 percent, saw a 10-percent drop from August.
In August the numbers showed Perry at 24 percent, followed by Romney at 18 percent, with Cain in sixth place with 5 percent.
In a matchup against President Barack Obama, Romney has a slight lead, 46 percent to 42 percent while Perry gets 45 percent to Obama's 44 percent.
Increasingly, Americans are rebuffing electing the president a second time. Asked if he deserves a second chance, voters said 54 percent to 42 percent that he does not. In August, the same question generated a 51 percent to 42 percent difference, with Amerians saying the president does not deserve a second term in the White House.
The poll was conducted from Sept .27 to Oct. 3 and surveyed 2,118 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.1 percentage points. For the Republican primary, Quinnipiac surveyed 927 voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percent.
Overall, Americans are unhappy with the president: 53 percent view him unfavorably and 42 percent view him favorably, compared to 39 – 28 percent favorable for Romney.
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