Nearly two weeks after announcing his candidacy, Rick Perry has surged to the top of the Republican presidential field. He leads his rivals by double digits in a new national Gallup poll — the first taken since the Texas governor entered the fray.

Perry sits in first place with 25 percent support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney comes in second with 14 percent. In a Gallup poll released last month, the pair were running virtually neck-and-neck.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has been flirting with a run, each attract 11 percent support. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has also been considering launching a second White House bid, garners 9 percent, edging out Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 7 percent. None of the remaining candidates polls above 4 percent.

Perry’s lead increases slightly in Palin and Giuliani’s absence. In that scenario, he tops Romney by 12 points, 29 percent to 17 percent. Paul takes 13 percent and Bachmann drops slightly to 10 percent.

The Texas governor also attracts the most conservative voters: 33 percent back him while 16 percent support Romney. Paul and Bachmann tie with 12 percent. Romney leads among liberals and moderates, though not by much. He attracts 21 percent compared to Perry’s 17 percent.

Perry also holds a double-digit lead in another national poll of the GOP race released today. According to a survey from Public Policy Polling (D), the governor attracts 27 percent support from Republicans while Romney takes 17 percent. Palin comes in third with 13 percent, and Bachmann finishes with 10 percent. Giuliani is not included in this poll.

Gallup interviewed 1,040 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents from Aug. 17-21. The poll holds a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

PPP (D) surveyed 663 usual Republican primary voters from Aug. 18-21. For this poll, the margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. 

Caitlin Huey-Burns is a reporter for RealClearPolitics. She can be reached at chueyburns@realclearpolitics.com.

Ten days after Tim Pawlenty bowed out of the presidential contest, one of the ex-Minnesota governor’s top campaign advisers is throwing his support behind onetime rival Mitt Romney.

Vin Weber, a former five-term Minnesota congressman and a well-known D.C. lobbyist, served as the co-chairman of Pawlenty’s presidential campaign. Now that his candidate is out of the race, he is heading back to his old job as a senior policy adviser to Romney, a position he held during the former Massachusetts governor’s 2008 White House bid.

“It is an honor to again work with Mitt Romney,” Weber said in a statement. “At such a critical time in our nation’s history, it is important that we have someone with his background to lead the country.”

As a “special adviser on policy,” Weber, a former regional chairman of George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, will counsel Romney on foreign and economic issues, according to a statement released by the campaign.

“I am proud to have Vin’s support,” said Romney in the statement. “Vin will be a trusted adviser and I look forward to working with him to help get our country moving in the right direction again.”

Weber, who represented Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District from 1981 to 1993, backed his fellow statesman Pawlenty early on in the Republican nomination race. At the time, he told the Washington Post that while he thought highly of Romney, “I had to make a very personal decision. Tim Pawlenty’s been a friend of mine for 20-plus years. I think Pawlenty’s a great candidate.”

Weber is currently a managing partner at the Washington lobbying and public relations firm Clark & Weinstock.

Romney is campaigning in New Hampshire this week, where he won another significant endorsement on Wednesday from former state Senate President Tom Eaton. Eaton has connections to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s top strategist, David Carney, who ran Eaton’s first state Senate campaign.

Caitlin Huey-Burns is a reporter for RealClearPolitics. She can be reached at chueyburns@realclearpolitics.com.

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Lil Wayne’s upcoming album Tha Carter IV has been scheduled for an August 29 release for a while, but the exact time was announced today. More specifically, Tha Carter IV is coming out digitally at midnight, right after the MTV Video Music Awards. The rapper was nominated Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Collaboration and will be performing at the event.

In a press statement, he said : “I am extremely excited to be the first artist to utilize such an amazing idea. I hope that I can open the door for others.”

Additionally, CEO of Cash Money Records Ronald “Slim” Williams said : “Wayne is one of the most respected and prolific artists in the industry. By pairing the release of Tha Carter IV with the VMAs, it will certainly add to the overall anticipation and excitement for fans everywhere for what will surely be an unforgettable evening.”