Look ye upon the results of a bad debate performance and the collapse of Michele Bachmann. Here’s PPP’s new Florida poll, with trendlines from the June poll.
Mitt Romney - 30% (+3)
Rick Perry - 24% (+24)
Newt Gingrich - 10% (+2)
Ron Paul - 8% (+1)
Herman Cain - 7% (-3)
Michele Bachmann - 6% (-11)
Jon Huntsman - 3% (+1)
Rick Santorum - 2% (+2)
Gary Johnson - 1% (+1)
Perry wasn’t even polled in June; his coalition comes right out of what was 17 percent for Palin and 17 percent for Bachmann. So why is he only at 24 percent? One clue: a plurality of Republicans, 49 percent, disagree with the statement that “Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.” Perry has a 54 percent favorable rating with Republicans; Romney is at 65 percent.
Remember that Tea Party nightmare scenario, in which conservative voters keep squabbling and fighting over dream candidates while Romney locks up plurality wins? You know how that happened in 2008, and the killer moment for conservatives was John McCain’s plurality win in Florida?
