According to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, former CEO Herman Cain has the support of 27% of Republican voters and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney gets 23% followed by the rest of the field. But what may be more important than the overall numbers, is the breakdown of the type of voters supporting the top two candidates.

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Not surprisingly, Mr. Cain has a strong lead among Tea Party supporters and those who identify themselves as 'very conservative'. He also has the edge among men, voters over 55 years old and those with college educations. Equally expected, Governor Romney has more support from women, non-Tea Party Republicans, and those who consider themselves moderate or liberal Republicans. The real news (and the good news for conservatives) is that Mr. Cain has the edge among high-interest voters while Mr. Romney is the choice of those who aren't really paying attention yet.

Difficult as it might be to understand for those of us who closely follow politics, the majority of likely voters are basing their response to these types of polls on name recognition. Despite what the 24/7 news channels and numerous political websites would have us think, it's still very early in the process and most Americans will wait until their own state's primary date gets closer to pay attention and make their official decision. Bad news for Mr. Romney, good news for Mr. Cain and maybe even a couple of other contenders whose conservative messages resound more with the voters and less with biased media personalities.

There is no doubt that this presidential campaign season started earlier than has been the norm. Possible causes include those cable channels with lots of airtime to fill and the new online media with unlimited space to fill with news, data, opinions and discussion. Another reason could be President Barack Obama who never really left campaign mode and has virtually given up trying to govern in order to devote all his time to chasing after re-election.

However as today's poll proves, many voters have not been taken in by the manufactured urgency. They know they still have time before they need to pay close attention and make an informed decision. Until then, expect anything including the unexpected. As pollster Bill McInturff said, "There is still a long, long, long time to go."