Robert Kaltenbach

News Editor

   October has been full of surprises in the Republican Presidential Primary. Herman Cain, considered to be a highly unelectable candidate just a few months ago, has seen his poll numbers surge. Most publications now put him narrowly behind front-runner Mitt Romney, and The Wall Street Journal even has him leading the race by a margin of four points.

    Meanwhile Texas Governor Rick Perry, thought of as the most likely nominee when he first entered the race in August, has seen his support dwindle. According to www.realclearpolitics.com, Perry’s followers now make up just 12.9% of the Republican electorate, placing him more than ten points behind Romney and Cain.

    What accounts for these fluctuations? According to Brian Montopoli of CBS News, “Cain’s rise follows a flurry of positive media coverage for his upset victory over Perry in the Florida Straw Poll last month... Cain has also been getting traction with GOP voters and conservative columnists with his 9-9-9 tax plan - a proposal to replace the current tax code with a nine percent flat income tax, a nine percent corporate tax and a nine percent national sales tax.”

    Perry’s slide is generally attributed to his shaky performances in the debates. His claim that the children of illegal immigrants should be allowed in-state tuition has alienated many of his former backers. Supporters claim that he can’t be counted out yet, though. His campaign is still well-funded, having raised over $17 million in just 49 days.

    For his part, Mitt Romney spent most of October trying to appeal to voters as a more electable candidate than his two leading competitors. Though Time reports that Obama still leads Romney by eight points in their latest head-to-head poll, this is still a smaller lead than Obama holds over Perry (seventeen points) and Cain (twenty-one points).

    The developments over the past few weeks prove that the GOP Primary is far from decided. Debates are set to continue throughout the coming months, with the next one being held on November 9th in Rochester, MI.