Cain leads Republican race

According to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain is now the leader of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - The race which some felt a month ago was essentially decided, has taken yet another twist. Over the past year the race has had a number of frontrunners. Among them, Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and now Herman Cain.

Meanwhile, according to the polls, Rick Perry has dropped to third place losing more than 20 percentage points in a little over a month.

Republican pollster Bill McIntruff cautioned, "there is still a long, long, long time to go."

Cain has 27 percent of the Republican voters, with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 23 percent. Perry has dropped to just 16 percent. Ron Paul remained steady at 11 percent, a number that has been virtually unchanged throughout the entire race. Gingrich, Bachman, and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, are in the single digits.

Perry has shown the most dramatic change. Like a shooting star he burst onto the scene at the end of August, and out polled everyone, winning 38 percent support from polled Republicans. This was  at least 15 percent more than his closest competitor and the previous frontrunner, Mitt Romney. And like a shooting star, after a period of brightness lasting less than six weeks, he appears to be fading rapidly.

Analysts are citing Perry's poor performance in the debates, as well as being caught on the unfavorable side of several hot-button issues, compared to Herman Cain who is not a career politician, and seems to be more a man of the people.

Many people like the manner in which Cain speaks and communicates with voters. "He isn't a politician," many of the polled said.

When evaluating favorable versus unfavorable ratings of the candidates, the latest polls show Cain's numbers are astoundingly high as 52 percent of Republican voters view him favorably versus just 6 percent who have an unfavorable view of him. With voters that identify themselves as "very conservative," he enjoys an astounding 72 percent approval rating.

Romney has held a steady 23 percent rating since August. So far, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's support has not translated into a boost in the polls, but it is expected to help.

Obama is still winning in polls against all potential Republican challengers, although the margins are quite slim. The hypothetical match ups done by the polls indicate that Obama beats Romney by 46 to 44 points. Against Cain, Obama's advantage is actually more significant. Obama enjoys an 11 point advantage, 49 to 38 percent against Cain.

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In any case, the race is far from over and much can change over the year to come. 

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