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POPSPerry Zooms to Front of Pack for 2012 GOP Nomination Leads Romney by 29% to 17% Still, he, like Romney before him, rates as a weaker front-runner than those in prior GOP nomination contests. Perry will attempt to avoid the same fates as late-entering candidates in the last two nomination contests -- Fred Thompson in the 2008 Republican field and Wesley Clark in the 2004 Democratic field. Both created a buzz surrounding their potential candidacies, and ranked among the national leaders upon entering the race. However, both fared poorly in early primaries and caucuses and soon after ended their candidacies. Sign up for Gallup.com email alerts to get breaking Election 2012 news. Track every angle of the presidential race on Gallup.com's Election 2012 page. http://www.gallup.com