Poll: Romney leading GOP presidential field

A new Fox News poll released Wednesday shows former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and Herman Cain moving into third place, behind Romney and Texas Governor Rick Perry.

The poll, conducted from September 25 to September 27, has Romney at 23 percent support, Perry at 19 percent and Cain at 17 percent. Perry dropped 10 points from a Fox News poll a month ago.

Fox News said that the findings suggest that Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, has "jumped into the top tier" along with Romney and Perry.

Further down, Newt Gingrich received 11 percent support, Ron Paul came in at six percent and Michele Bachmann came in at three percent, low enough for Fox News to say that the Tea Party favorite is "hitting bottom."

In head to head match-ups with President Barack Obama, the poll found that Romney trails Obama by three points, within the poll's margin of error. Perry trails Obama by 8 points.

Rich Galen, a Republican strategist, told CNN that despite the poll results, saying that Cain is in the top tier now may not mean much in the long-term.

"A lesson we have to re-learn every cycle is that the 'top tier' and every other tier is not made of concrete, but of Silly Putty," Galen said. "Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Michele Bachmann were once in the 'top tier' but Ron Paul has never been. Perry entered the race in the top tier, but who knows if he will stay there. If Herman Cain is in the top tier we'll have to see how long it lasts. Might end up with him accepting the nomination next August; might end up with him dropping out in December."

A CNN/ORC International Poll released Monday showed Perry leading the race, with 28 percent support. Romney garnered 21 percent support in that poll.