National political news: Could it be the Perry factor?

According to a just released Gallup/USA Today poll, support for the presidential frontrunners in both political parties has slipped dramatically.

On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani's numbers are down nine points with most of that support going to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who has climbed from fifth place to second behind Giuliani. I'm thinking people are looking more closely at all those surrogates out there, like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, campaigning for Giuliani and not liking what they are seeing.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton's support is down 11 points, but she still holds a huge lead over Barack Obama. That's because that 11 percent moved to a variety of other candidates, none of whom gained more than 3 percent.

Here are the Republican standings:
Giuliani, 25%
Huckabee, 16%
Thompson, McCain, 15%
Romney 12%
Paul 4%

Democrats
Clinton, 39%
Obama, 24%
Edwards, 15%
Richardson, Biden, Kucinich4%

Of course, at this stage of the presidential campaign, polls are about as relevant as pre-season college football polls. They will mean more after the Iowa caucuses.