The first round of Republican nominations are three months away and a new poll shows a major shake up in the current slate. That slate has changed dramatically with new candidates joining the fray and others dropping out. Sarah Palin teased the idea of a run, even buying a tour bus and shadowing and upstaging Michelle Bachmann over the summer. She has recently announced that she is not going to be running after all. Governor Chris Christie had also suggested that he might consider a bit for the nomination but changed his mind over serious concerns about the state of his health.

In the most recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, has pulled ahead of second place Mitt Romney. Former front runner, Texas Governor Rick Perry has fallen to third place in that poll. Perry has fallen some twenty points since a poll in late August. Romney’s numbers on the other hand has not changed at all, holding solid at 23% for both polls.  Perry’s numbers dropped to 16%, with Texas Representative Ron Paul earning 11%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had 8%, Michelle Bachmann, once a top contender for the spot had only 5% and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman had 3%.

Among all Republican voters overall, Cain has a high favorability rating of 52% but his numbers among the Tea Party supporters are even higher. That rating is almost 70%. Republicans who listed themselves as very conservative view Cain favorably 72% with only 2% viewing him unfavorably.

Some of the comments made about Cain discussed his “common sense” and made much importance of the fact that he is not a politician. That might play a major role in an election that is following a year that has been one of the most economically depressing in recent memory. The government has come to the edge of shutting down not only one time and jobs still remain one of the major stumbling blocks.

Romney’s numbers have not changed since August, not only in terms of his overall acceptance but when the voters are separated into different factions. Romney’s current sticking point is not his Mormon faith which only seems to bother evangelical Christians but his stance on a national health care system. Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, signed a similar health bill into effect for that state during his term while he has repeatedly said that he would not do so for the nation. Over sixty percent of those polled reported that they were “comfortable” with Romney being a Mormon,

If President Obama were to face Mitt Romney in an election right now, he would have the edge by two percentage points. His lead would be greater when facing either Cain or Perry. Nearly eighty percent of the Democratic primary voters reported that they would still want Obama as their nominee.