Gingrich tops poll ahead of GOP debate

Newt Gingrich tops Mitt Romney and other GOP White House hopefuls, a U.S. poll indicated ahead of a Tuesday televised candidates' debate on national security.The former House speaker received the support of 24 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, while the former Massachusetts governor got 20 percent, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey of 1,019 adult Americans indicated.The poll -- taken Friday through Sunday and released late Monday -- has a sampling error of 5 percentage points for Republican-primary questions.Former Godfather's Pizza Chief Executive Officer Herman Cain -- who reached front-runner status three weeks ago, followed by accusations he sexually harassed female employees when he headed the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s -- got the support of 17 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose inconsistent debate performances and difficulty reconciling his positions on immigration and the HPV vaccine disillusioned many Republicans, came in at 11 percent, the poll indicated.Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, making his third run for the White House, earned 9 percent, while Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota got 5 percent, the poll indicated.Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. both got 3 percent.Twenty-seven percent of those polled said they had made up their minds.A CNN poll a week ago showed Romney at 24 percent and Gingrich at 22 percent. Gingrich was at 8 percent in an October CNN/ORC poll.Gingrich's campaign, which began in March, stumbled in May and June, after a number of gaffes and controversies that spurred some top advisers and staffers to quit. But he performed well in 10 major GOP presidential debates since then, taking on the role of elder statesman while many of his rivals attacked each other, surveys and analysts indicated.Gingrich and seven of his GOP rivals are to debate again at 8 p.m. EST Tuesday, this time in Washington's historic DAR Constitution Hall, a 3,700-seat concert hall owned and operated by the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. It is located across from the circular Ellipse park in front of the White House.The debate, to be televised by CNN, is billed as focusing on national security, foreign policy and the economy.The American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, two conservative think tanks co-sponsoring the debate with CNN, will create many of the questions asked during the debate, the sponsors said.Gingrich spent the past 12 years as an AEI senior fellow and left just before announcing his candidacy. Romney drew three Heritage Foundation scholars and one from AEI for his foreign-policy team.Perry has been advised by senior AEI fellow John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, The Washington Post reported.AEI Vice President Danielle Pletka told the Post CNN was "absolutely scrupulous" in making sure there would be no conflicts of interest between the campaigns and the debate's production.