Rick Perry overtakes President Obama 44% to 41% in recent poll

Texas Goveor Rick Perry is riding high heading into next week's GOP presidential debate, topping President Obama in a new poll.

Perry, the longest-serving goveor in the history of the Lone Star State, edged Obama, 44% to 41%, in a national Rasmussen poll - a sign voters dig his pro-jobs message, McClatchy Newspapers reported Friday. 

No other GOP White House hopeful topped the president in the poll, which surveyed 1,000 likely voters from Aug. 23 through Aug. 30. The margin of error was 3%.

Obama still holds a hypothetical edge over the rest of the GOP field, boasting a four-percentage-point lead over former Massachusetts goveor Mitt Romney in the Rasmussen poll. Earlier in the year, Romney held a 1-percentage-point lead over Obama in a poll.

The Rasmussen triumph capped a week of positive poll results for Perry, who appears to have snatched the GOP front-runner tag away from Romney.

On Monday, a CNN/ORC Inteational poll of GOP and independent voters who tend to favor Republican positions had 27% of voters nationwide supporting Perry, with only 14% backing Romney, The Texas Observer reported Friday in a story titled: "Can Perry Be Stopped?"

On Tuesday, a poll by Public Policy Polling showed Perry 20 points ahead of Romney among likely GOP voters in South Carolina.

"He's skyrocketed to the front-runner position, and that is significant," Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told McClatchy.

Sabato added, however, that with Perry's favorable poll numbers, "he's going to get more scrutiny and a different standard of evaluation."

Perry political adviser David Caey was far less effusive, telling McClatchy via email: "Polls at this point are neither predictive nor enlightening, but they kill lots of trees and keep many people employed."

The scrutiny that Sabato mentioned is sure to come on Wednesday, when Perry, Romney and the other GOP contenders square off in a debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.

That forum will be followed by another debate Sept. 12 in Tampa, Fla.

The Texas Observer reported that while Perry is telegenic and has a winsome smile, he isn't exactly a star debater: "If you've ever seen Perry debate (a rare treat, as he avoids them at all costs), you'll know this isn't his strongest forum. There will be no bales of hay to casually place his cowboy boot upon."

On the campaign trail in Florida Friday, Romney appeared to be responding to Perry's increasing success in the polls when he vowed to get tough on illegal immigration, The Associated Press reported.

"Our country must do a better job of securing its borders, and as president, I will," Romney said at a meeting of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Florida.

He never mentioned Perry's name, but his attempt to set himself apart from the Texan was obvious: Perry has been criticized by some conservatives for being soft on immigration, The Associated Press reported.