Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

In Polls, Perry's Down And Cain Is Up; Meanwhile, Christie Really Not In?

<p>New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.</p>
Kevork Djansezian
/
Getty Images

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Apply all the usual caveats: Poll numbers go up, poll numbers go down and we're still months away from Republicans actually casting meaningful votes for their presidential contenders.

But if you're keeping track of such things, Texas Gov. Rick Perry's standing has now dipped in two national polls — one from Fox News and the other from ABC News/The Washington Post. He runs second in both to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Businessman Herman Cain places third in both surveys.

Meanwhile, the ongoing "will he or won't he?" speculation about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is getting some more fuel today. While this morning it was being reported that he "does not have any public appearances scheduled today," we just heard from NPR's Ken Barcus that the Republican governor has scheduled a 1 p.m. ET news conference in Trenton. As Fox News says, the "late addition to the schedule ... has election watchers wondering if he's going to announce his entry into the 2012 Republican presidential race."

Our friend Frank James is following the 2012 campaign on It's all Politics. He's been pooh-poohing the idea of a Christie presidential bid.

Update at 1:25 p.m. ET: Christie says he's not running.

Update at 10:50 a.m. ET: ABC News' The Note also reports being told, by "a source with direct knowledge of the governor's thinking," that he's not going to run for president.

Update at 10:20 a.m. ET. National Review's The Corner blog writes that:

"New Jersey Republicans tell National Review Online that Gov. Chris Christie will not run for president. The governor, they predict, will make this clear at a press conference this afternoon."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.