Bloomberg is reporting that Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney “are in a dead heat as the top choices for Iowans who are likely to attend the Jan 3rd Republican presidential caucuses.”

A Bloomberg News poll shows Cain at 20 percent, Paul at 19 percent, Romney at 18 percent and Gingrich at 17 percent among the likely attendees with the caucuses that start the nominating contests seven weeks away.

This is getting very interesting. Romney is hanging out at the top by default; Cain and Gingrich- the former a man whose real speeches aren’t much more substantive than the lip-snyced versions of them, the latter a crony has-been faux candidate- are catching a temporary wave spurred on by the defection of supporters from Perry’s campaign in the wake of his entertaining self-implosion over the last few weeks. But then there’s Paul. What do we make of him? At 19% in Iowa…

There’s good news in the poll for Paul, 76, a Texas congressman who has attracted ardent supporters. Among likely caucus-goers who say their minds are made up, Paul leads with 32 percent, followed by Romney at 25 percent and Gingrich, a former House speaker, at 17 percent.

Among Paul supporters who backed him in the 2008 caucuses, 69 percent are still with him now.

Poll participant Sarah Stang, 78, a retired teacher who lives in Osage, Iowa, said she switched parties four years ago so she could vote for Paul.

“He doesn’t want to raise taxes on us middle- and low- income people,” she said, adding that she “loves” his challenges to the Federal Reserve. “They have way too much power. They should let the marketplace do what it’s supposed to,” she said.

While other candidates’ numbers have been as inconsistent and volatile as their positions on the various issues over the years, Paul has been the steady-eddie in the race, trending nothing but higher since the beginning of his 2012 candidacy- and truly, since his 2007 presidential run- in spite of a constant struggle against unrelenting entrenched interests and immense, unapologetic media bias and exclusion. I mean, people are switching parties to vote for Paul. Do you think anyone is doing that for Romney, Cain or Gingrich? To boot, Paul’s voters are sticky and enthusiastic, a critical distinction that- like his consistency on the issues- separates him from the pack.

While it is tempting when they are in your favor, one should be careful never to lean too much on polls. But like I said, this is getting very interesting…

The article posits:

Polls in Iowa and New Hampshire — site of the nation’s first primary — are better barometers of the candidate field than national surveys because voters in those states are paying more attention and are aware of their early role in shaping the Republican race.

If indeed that is true, Paul and his supporters have plenty of reasons to be optimistic going forward.

UPDATE (Wed 11/16): Right on cue, a new poll places the surging Paul in 2nd place in NH  at a formidable 17%.