President 2012 GOP Florida Poll Watch: Romney 28% Vs. Cain 24% Vs. Gingrich 10% Vs. Perry 9%

According to the latest St. Petersburg Times Poll.

Debates matter. So did Florida’s straw poll. Just ask two guys: Herman Cain and Rick Perry.

Cain is now running in second place in Florida now that his support surged nearly 19 percentage points after last month’s Republican Party of Florida’s Presidency 5 debate and straw poll, according to a survey of likely Florida voters conducted by Gainesville-based War Room Logistics, which typically polls for Republicans.

Meantime, Perry’s support plummeted nearly 16 percentage points.

Perry had been tied as a Florida frontrunner with Mitt Romney at about 25 percent on Sept. 20, dropped to third/fourth place with 9 percent of the vote where he’s statistically tied with Newt Gingrich (10 percent).

Romney’s support grew a modest 3 percentage points, to 28 percent.

Romney also remains the best general-election candidate against President Obama, according to the poll. Romney trails him 42-48 – the smallest margin.

Looks like Texas Governor Rick Perry has crashed and burned. Looks like there will be inordinate pressure on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to enter the race or I am positive Rudy Giuliani will get in – one or the other. Somebody will want to be the anti-Romney candidate and Herman Cain won’t make it.

Perry is almost done. His fundraising may keep him in the race for a while, but he better light it up at the next debate or put a fork in him.