President 2012: Herman Cain Upsets Rick Perry in Florida Republican Straw Poll

Former pizza executive Herman Cain surprised rival Rick Perry with an upset victory on Saturday in a nonbinding Republican presidential straw poll in Florida, dealing a disappointing loss to the Texas governor two days after a shaky debate performance.

Perry, leading in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, had needed a victory in the key test of strength in a crucial state to salve the wounds left over from a debate with his rivals on Thursday in which he struggled.

Instead, former Godfather’s Pizza executive Cain, who is far behind the two top-tier candidates Perry and Mitt Romney, won with 37 percent of 2,657 votes cast.

Perry was a distant second at 15 percent, just ahead of Romney, who won 14 percent despite not participating in the poll. Further back were Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann.

Neither Mitt Romney nor Michele Bachmann competed in the straw poll, but Perry did.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that while Rick Perry is the current front-runner in GOP Polls that when the new polls come out, he will have shown a drop. Perry’s debate performacne was booed by the Florida Republican audience and his campaign has taken severe hits over Perry’s statements and/or record on Social Security, mandated Gardasil vaccinations and illegal immigration.

Next week’s polls should give us an indication whether Perry is another GOP flavor of the month front-runner or whether he remains a favorite in the Presidential field.

But, losing head to head against Herman Cain cannot be viewed as a positive development in Rick Perry’s campaign.