Rick Perry rising

7.57 million viewed the ABC debate on Dec. 10. Nallie Andreeva reports on “Deadline:Hollywood”: “ABC News’s Republican presidential debate drew 7.6 million total viewers on Saturday, 2.1 million of them in the 25-54 demographic. Titled ‘Your Voice, Your Vote — Republican Presidential Debate in Iowa,’ the special ranks as the most-watched debate of the 2012 presidential campaign to date, eclipsing Fox News’s Sept. 22 telecast, which averaged 6.1 million viewers.”

Suggests that “normal people,” people who do not compulsively follow politics, are only recently beginning to get serious about the upcoming primaries.

The Gallup poll out Dec. 19 indicating Republican preferences for 2012 GOP presidential nomination and recent trends indicates that since the Dec. 10 debate Gingrich sank seven, bringing him even with Romney. Romney and Paul remain flat. Bachmann up then down. Santorum, Huntsman flat since Dec. 11.

Only Rick Perry graphs steadily rising progress since last Tuesday, Dec. 13, when people started to watch in greater numbers.