Cain, Romney in virtual dead heat

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Georgia businessman Herman Cain are in a virtual tie atop the list of GOP presidential hopefuls, a poll indicated.

Romney led with 25 percent support among Republican and Republican-leaning voters, followed by Cain with 23 percent, results in The Washington Post-ABC News poll indicated Friday. Texas Gov. Rick Perry was third with 14 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was fourth with 12 percent. The remaining candidates polled in single digits

The poll released indicates most Republicans were dismissing allegations of sexual harassment leveled against Cain during the past week.

Seven in 10 Republicans said allegations that Cain made unwanted advances toward two employees when he led the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s don't matter, results showed. Cain has denied the allegations.

Results are based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,004 adults Monday through Thursday, including a sample of 438 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. The margin of sampling error for the smaller sample is 5.5 percentage points.