What a difference a few debates can make.

Herman Cain's star has risen steadily in the past two months, from a largely unknown CEO running for president to a top-tier candidate in the Republican field for 2012 -- and now voters even rank him above the presumed front-runner, Mitt Romney, in a poll released Wednesday evening.

As GOP voters grow disenchanted with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and remain wary of Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, Cain, a onetime radio-show host and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, catapulted into the lead in the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/12/cain-vaults-to-lead-in-poll/#ixzz1adoOKxJe