Gingrich on Top in New Poll

Newt Gingrich is getting his turn on the merry-go-round that has been the top spot in Republican primary polling. A new USA Today/Gallup poll has Gingrich on top among registered Republican voters with 22%, though that’s just a hair ahead of Mitt Romney’s 21% and within the poll’s margin of error. Herman Cain has fallen back into the pack with 16%, while Rick Perry is languishing in fifth with 8%—behind Ron Paul’s 9%.

Gingrich’s biggest base of supporters: the elderly. Only 4% of people under age 30 support Gingrich, but 27% of those between 50 and 64 do, and among the 65+ crowd that figure jumps to 34%. Romney, too, enjoys strong support among the Social Security crowd, with 28% of the 65+ vote, while Herman Cain’s support is concentrated among younger voters. Overall, “there is no clear national frontrunner,” Gallup concludes, calling the race the most competitive GOP contest since 1972. (More Gallup poll stories.)