Newt is on top!  A new Fox News poll shows Newt out-distancing Mitt Romney by two points, 24% to 22%.  That’s an increase of 8% for the former Speaker of the House.  Romney holds steady at 22% and has received the coveted endorsement of popular New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte in the past several days.  That boost will be a big help to Romney in that early Primary state.  Still Romney’s numbers drop 6% in this latest poll, and Gingrich seems to be the benefactor.

Reuters has the rest of the results:

Despite allegations of questionable business ties, Gingrich is the latest favorite of conservative Republicans eager for an alternative to Romney, whom they see as too moderate.

Support for Herman Cain, a previous frontrunner, is crumbling after sexual harassment allegations. The former pizza executive dropped 8 percentage points in the poll from last

Herman Cain Getting The Pointed End of Cartoonist's and Pollsters Pens

week and fell back into third place. Support for him has halved since late October.

In a sign of further relief for Gingrich, 46 percent of Republicans said the revelations that he had received up to $1.8 million in consulting fees from mortgage giant Freddie Mac had no impact on their view of the candidate.

Thirty-one percent said the issue left them with a less favorable opinion of Gingrich, who has criticized Freddie Mac sharply in the past.

“We have absolutely seen Gingrich surge,” said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark, noting that the former House leader from the 1990s was a more established political figure than some of his Republican counterparts who have slipped in the polls.

“Because he is established, this makes him much more well protected” from damage resulting from the Freddie connection, she said.

Falling As Fast As He Emerged?

A Fox News poll released on Wednesday also showed Gingrich ahead. That survey, however, was conducted before the Freddie Mac connection and other news stories about his business ties had fully played out.

Support for Cain and Texas Governor Rick Perry fell in the Reuters/Ipsos poll. Cain came in with 12 percent support and Perry, who has performed poorly in a series of televised debates, was in fourth place with 10 percent.

There’s more to the story here!

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/20/us-usa-campaign-poll-idUSTRE7AJ05V20111120

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Filed under: Economy, Featured, Inside The KC, Politics by Sonja Eddings Brown, Nov 21, 2011