Herman Cain’s once-surging popularity in Iowa has plummeted in the wake of an allegation of a 13-year extramarital affair, leaving him at single-digit support with the Iowa caucuses just over a month away.
Cain is now at 8 percent among likely Republican caucusgoers, The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll shows. That’s down from 23 percent in late October.
On Sunday, the first day of polling, his support stood at 12 percent. That dropped steadily over the four-day poll to 4 percent Wednesday.
The new poll shows 27 percent of likely caucusgoers think he’s the “least knowledgeable” of the 2012 field, topping all candidates in that category.
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About the poll
The Iowa Poll, conducted Nov. 27-30 for The Des Moines Register by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on interviews with 2,222 registered Republican and independent voters in Iowa ages 18 or older, of which 401 said they would definitely or probably participate in the January 2012 Republican caucus. Interviewers contacted individuals randomly selected from the Iowa voter registration list by telephone, stratifying contact by age. The full sample of 2,222 respondents was adjusted for age and sex based on distribution among active Republican and no-party registered voters. Questions asked of the 401 likely Republican caucusgoers have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error. The two-day rolling averages have a margin of error of plus or minus 6.9 percentage points. Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register is prohibited.
http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/12/02/iowa-poll-cain-support-in-iowa-takes-nose-dive
