Well, Rick Perry was right-on with last weekend's defensive post-debate appraisal: "There may be slicker candidates and there may be smoother debaters but I know what I believe in." And GOP leaning voters are still sticking with the Texas governor: the latest CNN/ORC International Poll has Perry at 28 percent support, topping all other candidates in a nationwide survey. The other part of the two-man race, Mitt Romney, clocks in with 21 percent. Newt Gingrich somehow finds himself at 10 percent, at 7 percent are Ron Paul and Herman Cain, while Michele Bachmann is really languishing at 4 percent. In a continuation of a trend that's been going on for quite some time, Mitt Romney still does better than Rick Perry in a hypothetical head-to-head match up against the President. And, warning sign: CNN has Ron Paul doing better against Obama than the Texas governor right now--Paul loses by 4 percent (51 to 47 percent) and Perry loses by 5 percent (51 to 46 percent) in a two way race. Mitt is basically tied with Obama, losing 49 to 48 percent.

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Erik Hayden