Republican Presidential Polls - Mean Nothing Right Now?

Dena's got a fondness for Herman Cain among the gaggle of current Republican presidential candidates. Me too so far, being the be-nice-to-people guy that I am, and fan of simple tax plans. Check out these poll results. Pizza man's in first place!

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-1452.html

How does that fare for his Oval Office chances? Let's see who was in first place at this time ahead of the 2008 election.

1st place: Giuliani (28%)

2nd place: Thompson (18%)

3rd place: McCain (14%)

And the final results?

1st place: McCain (57%)

Last place: Giuliani, Thompson (0%)

Hmmm.

So does this mean that early polls are chances for pace-setting rabbits to sprint out of the gate, until the greyhounds catch up?

Or does it mean that new trends are afoot?