DES MOINES, Iowa - December 5, 2011 - The question surrounding Rick Perry in the polls no longer seems to be, “When will he turn his decline around?”

It’s now, “How low can he go?”

The newest Poll Position/Majority Opinion Research poll puts Perry at 3% with Republican voters nationwide. Conducted on Dec. 4, the day after Herman Cain announced the suspension of his campaign, the poll aimed to reveal any shifts in the Republican field due to Cain’s absence.

But Perry didn’t benefit from Cain’s announcement - at least not immediately. In fact, his 3% is two points lower than the 5% at which he was polling on Nov. 27. That puts Perry ahead of only Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman, and ahead of them by only one point–within the poll’s three-point margin of error.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has now jumped ahead of Perry and is polling three points higher than him, with 6% support.

Mitt Romney also found no pleasure from Cain’s pain, as he stayed at a steady second place with 23% support, the same percent he held in late November.  Newt Gingrich managed to grow his lead into double digits with a slight increase in support, up from 32% in November to 37% in the latest poll.

With Cain’s departure, Texas Rep. Ron Paul moves into third place nationally with 7% of the vote. This echoes his surge in polls of likely Iowa caucus voters that were conducted last week. The Des Moines Register released a poll on Sunday that showed Paul in second place in that state with 18% of the vote - a jump from 11% in October. This puts him ahead of formerly second-place Romney, and behind only Gingrich, who polled at 25% of the vote.