Texas Gov. Perry leads GOP field

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Texas Gov. Rick Perry

With many months still ahead before we pick our next president, a lot of Americans who are deeply disenchanted with President Barack Obama are wondering whom the Republicans will nominate to challenge him. So there naturally is a great deal of interest in the polls.

Approval of the job Obama is doing is plunging so fast that it seems almost impossible for opinion surveys to keep up.

Meanwhile, in the GOP camp, the most recent Gallup survey shows conservative Gov. Rick Perry of Texas jumping into the lead among Republican voters. He has handily overtaken the previous poll leader, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Perry was the favorite with 29 percent of the voters surveyed, compared with 17 percent for Romney. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was third, with 13 percent, and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was fourth, with 10 percent. Other Republican candidates lagged far behind.

Gallup also finds that Obama is in a statistical tie among registered voters in head-to-head match-ups with the four leading GOP candidates: Perry, Romney, Paul and Bachmann.

While not many things in politics are particularly stable, Perry, at least for the time being, is generating the most enthusiasm among Republican voters -- and it appears that any of the top GOP candidates could give Obama a run for his money.