Two new national polls out today show Newt Gingrich surging as Herman Cain fades. First, the CNN/ORC poll results; taken November 11-13, it shows Gingrich in second behind Romney — a statistical dead heat. The full results, with last month’s number is parentheses (the previous poll was taken October 14-16):
Romney 24% (26%)
Gingrich 22% (8%)
Cain 14% (25%)
Perry 12% (13%)
Paul 8% (9%)
Bachmann 6% (6%)
Huntsman 3% (1%)
Santorum 3% (2%)
Next, the new PPP poll, taken November 10-13, which shows Gingrich in first place outright, and a less pronounced fall for Cain; results from last month (taken October 7-10) in parentheses:
Newt Gingrich 28% (15%)
Herman Cain 25% (30%)
Mitt Romney 18% (22%)
Rick Perry 6% (14%)
Ron Paul 5% (5%)
Michele Bachmann 5% (5%)
Jon Huntsman 3% (2%)
Rick Santorum 1% (1%)
Gary Johnson 1% (0%)
The PPP poll is probably a somewhat better sample of likely primary voters; PPP polled registered voters, whereas CNN polled adults and asked the GOP primary question of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. But both show an unmistakable trend, at least at the national level (we’ll have to wait to see how similar the picture is in early primary/caucus state polls): Gingrich has, for the moment, gained a foothold in the top tier.