Florida Poll Shows Obama Weakness, and Baseline for Mr. Cain

The Good News for Democrat;:  The President Could Be Doing Worse

The most current poll for the state of Florida shows Mitt Romney and Herman Cain tied for the lead.  No one else is even close, although Newt Gingrich is in third place barely reaching double digits, a huge vote of confidence in the Gingrich campaign if one listens to Mr. Gingrich.

The Suffolk University poll, conducted before Politico published a report on past sexual harassment claims against Cain, showed Romney at 25% and Cain at 24% in the early-voting state. Newt Gingrich is the only other candidate in double digits, with 11%.

Since this poll was taken before Mr. Cain’s problems with explaining his past problems, it will serve as a welcome benchmark in assessing just how much of a problem those problems will be.  On one side it could be that the revelations and how Mr. Cain has handled them sink him to Rick Perry levels, but it is also possible the Florida Republicans really don’t care about such things and in fact strengthens their resolve to vote for Mr. Cain.

Conservatives don’t have a very high standard when it comes to Conservatives and their behavior.  For example, the fact that Florida Republican and rabid Conservative Sen. Marco Rubio told a false story about how his parents came to this country doesn’t seem to bother them.

The survey also finds that Sen. Marco Rubio could boost the GOP ticket next November. If he is the nominee for vice president with an unnamed Republican, the GOP would lead the Obama-Joe Biden ticket 46-41%.

Given his popularity, or lack of it, the amazing thing is that Mr. Obama is still competitive in Florida.

In hypothetical general election matchups, he is tied with Romney at 42% each, and leads Cain by just 3 points, 42-39%.

But this says more about Mr. Romney and Mr. Cain than it does about Mr. Obama.