Texas Gov. Rick Perry just jumped in the presidential race, but some fresh numbers suggest he’s shot to the front of the pack:

Pollster Scott Rasmussen is about to release the first national post-straw poll numbers. The results:

Perry 29, Romney 18, Bachmann 13, Paul 9.

It looks like Rick got out more of a bang out of Iowa and the Battle of Waterloo than Michele did.

National polls are often just indicators of name recognition, so the media’s fixation with the knee-slapping Southerner is paying dividends.