WASHINGTON – For the first time, Texas Gov. Rick Perry leads President Barack Obama in a national poll, by 44 to 41 percent, while his GOP rivals trail in head-to-head matchups against the president.
The new Rasmussen poll signals a breakthrough for Perry, who trailed Obama by three percentage points in last week's Rasmussen poll. The latest survey of 1,000 likely voters, released Thursday, was conducted Aug. 23-30 and has an error margin of three percentage points.
Since his late entry into the race Aug. 13, Perry has surged to the top of six major polls, displacing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the former front-runner.
Perry heads to South Carolina on Labor Day for a forum with other major GOP candidates. On Wednesday, Perry will participate in his first debate with his Republican rivals at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, followed by another debate Sept. 12 in Tampa.
Perry's camp downplayed the new poll, with political adviser David Carney telling McClatchy via email, "Polls at this point are neither predictive nor enlightening, but they kill lots of trees and keep many people employed."
In fact, a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday had Obama still ahead of Perry at 45-42 percent, and Romney tied with Obama at 45 percent. That poll was taken Aug. 16-27 of 2,730 voters and had an error margin of 1.9 percentage points.
In the new Rasmussen poll, Romney trails Obama 43 to 39 percent. Earlier in the year Romney edged the president by one point. The new poll also found that Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., trails the president by 46 to 38 percent and businessman Herman Cain loses to him 42 to 35 percent.
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