October 25, 2011
Businessman Herman Cain is now atop the field of Republican White House hopefuls, squeaking past Mitt Romney in the latest CBS News/New York Times poll.
Cain garnered 25 percent support of Republican primary voters in the poll released Tuesday, compared to Romney's 21 percent.
In early October, the two men were tied at 17 percent.
The poll was conducted Oct 19-24 among 1,650 adults. 1,475 interviews were conducted among registered voters and 455 voters who said they plan to vote in a Republican primary.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took 10 percent of likely primary voters, while Ron Paul's support was at 8 percent.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who led the poll in mid-September, plunged to just 6 percent support. He had 12 percent in early October and 23 percent in mid-September.
Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman were at the back of the pack with 2 percent, 1 percent and 1 percent respectively.

The economy is the most important issue for voters in the 2012 election cycle, according to a new CNN/ORC International Poll of American adults released Friday.
Fifty-four percent of respondents said the economy will be an extremely important factor in the next election. Unemployment was a close second with 47% followed by the deficit at 45% and health care at 42%. Other issues, like terrorism, foreign policy and moral issues, which previously dominated presidential elections, came in 36%, 23% and 18% respectively.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has moved to the head of the class inNevada in the race for the Republican Party's 2012 presidential nomination, according tothe results of the latest poll from Magellan Strategies.
Romney was the choice of 38 percent of likely Republican voters in Nevada, followed by Georgia businessman Herman Cain at 26 percent. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was third at 16 percent, followed by Texas congressman Ron Paul at 7 percent, Texas governor Rick Perry at 5 percent and Minnesota rep Michele Bachmann at 2 percent. Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum each had 1 percent.