Poll: Whelp, looks like that sexual harassment stuff hurt Herman Cain after all

• Joeff Davis/CL File

Is that a death knell or are you just happy to see me, Herman?

Two different polls released today — one performed by CNN, the other by Public Policy Polling — indicate that pizzatician and maybe-sexual harasser Herman Cain is no longer leading the GOP pack. CNN says he’s down 11 points since last month to 14 percent, which moves him into a distant third place. The Public Policy poll says Cain is down five points to 25 percent, but has moved into second.

Here’s CNN on the effects of the allegations ...
“Cain is struggling with the charges of sexual harassment, and while most Republicans tend to dismiss those charges, roughly four in 10 Republicans think this is a serious matter and tend to believe the women who made those charges,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.

The survey indicates that only a bare majority of Republicans tend to believe Cain, and more than a third say he should end his presidential campaign. Among the general public, Cain has a bigger credibility problem - 50% of all Americans say they tend to believe the women and only a third say they believe Cain.

MEANWHILE, look who’s making a major comeback. It’s NEWT, who has taken the GOP lead according to the Public Policy Poll (CNN has him in second behind Mittens Romney).

Despite the discrepancies, Newt has seen a surge in both polls ...
Gingrich’s lead caps an amazing comeback he’s made over the last 5 months. In June his favorability nationally with Republican voters plummeted all the way to 36/49. Now he’s at 68/23, representing a 58 point improvement in his spread since then. As recently as August Gingrich was mired in single digits at 7%, and even in September he was at just 10%. He’s climbed 18 points in less than 2 months.

There’s reason to think that if Cain continues to fade, Gingrich will continue to gain. Among Cain’s supporters 73% have a favorable opinion of Gingrich to only 21% with a negative one. That compares to a 33/55 spread for Romney with Cain voters and a 32/53 one for Perry. They like Gingrich a whole lot more than they do the other serious candidates in the race.

Just last week, the Wall Street Journal ran an opinion piece about Gingrich’s chances of getting the nomination — and winning the presidency ...
His rise in the polls suggests that more and more Republicans are absorbing that fact, along with the possibility that Mr. Gingrich’s qualifications all ‘round could well make him the most formidable contender for the contest with Barack Obama.