Poll: Perry maintains lead on eve of debate

Texas Gov. Rick Perry maintains his lead in national polls leading up to his second debate performance Monday night, according to a new poll conducted by CNN and ORC International.

Perry is backed by 32 percent of Republican voters, the same percentage who backed him in CNN's last poll conducted in late August. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is backed by 21 percent of voters, while Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) receives the support of 13 percent of voters. No other Republican candidate breaks into double digits.

The Texas governor also leads Romney on who the GOP electorate thinks is most electable: 42 percent of Republican voters believe he has the best chance of beating President Obama in the general election, while 26 percent believe Romney does. This indicates that attacks Romney or the other candidates make on Perry regarding electability could be a hard sell with the base.

When former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is added to the mix, Perry maintains his lead over Romney at 30 percent to 18 percent, with 15 percent for Palin and 12 percent for Paul.

The poll of 446 Republicans was conducted from Sept. 9-11, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.

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