Poll Positions: Perry Holds Early Lead in Florida (Update: And Virginia Too)

Mitt Romney’s Social Security hits on Perry have not had their desired effect, at least not yet.

Floridians give Texas Gov. Rick Perry a comfortable lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the Florida Times-Union/Insider Advantage poll, the first taken after Monday night’s GOP presidential debate in Tampa.

With strong backing from men and voters younger than 45, Perry holds a 29 percent to 20 percent lead over Romney in the survey of 456 registered Republicans who plan to vote in next year’s primary.

Twenty-one percent remain undecided.

The poll was taken the day after the seven other GOP candidates took repeated debate shots at Perry, now considered the national frontrunner. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry leads former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as the presidential choice of Virginia Republicans 25 – 19 percent, with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann at 5 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Perry tops Romney 43 – 36 percent in a two-man faceoff, but both run neck and neck against President Barack Obama.

Voters in Virginia, a key state in President Obama’s 2008 winning coalition, disapprove 54 – 40 percent of the job he is doing, down from a 48 – 48 percent split in a June 30 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Obama does not deserve four more years, voters say 51 – 41 percent.