Ron Paul leads in new Iowa poll

Updated Wednesday, 3:45 p.m.

Note: This article was updated to accurately reflect polling data in Iowa.

Here comes ... Ron Paul.

A survey by left-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP) finds the Texas congressman now leading for the GOP nomination in Iowa, where voters cast the first ballots of the 2012 presidential contest on Jan. 3.

Paul today also announced on his website that he raised more than $4 million since Friday in his latest "money bomb," aimed at helping him in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada -- which all hold early caucuses or primaries.

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Paul's rise comes as Newt Gingrich fades. The former House speaker has dropped nine percentage points nationally since the beginning of the month, according to the Gallup daily tracking poll.

In Iowa, Paul is leading Mitt Romney by an average of 1.4 percentage points, according to recent surveys compiled by RealClearPolitics.

Paul's potential in Iowa is great, especially given his on-the-ground organization and a recent spate of ads pummeling Gingrich. Long known for his libertarian views, Paul's campaign also boasts ardent supporters and their enthusiasm plus the congressman's ground game could be critical on Iowa caucus night.

Gingrich, by comparison, is just now starting to ramp up his staffing in Iowa.

"Paul's ascendancy is a sign that perhaps campaigns do matter at least a little, in a year where there has been a lot of discussion about whether they still do in Iowa," PPP says.

There is some criticism emerging about Public Policy Polling's methodology on this survey, Politico reports.

While Paul lags in overall fundraising to Romney, he has done better than everyone else in the GOP field except Rick Perry. His weekend haul of $4 million represents half of what Paul took in for the July-to-September fundraising period, according to campaign finance reports tabulated by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

In the 2008 campaign, Paul perfected the use of "money bombs," short bursts of fundraising primarily done online.