Orlando – Former Godfather Pizza CEO Herman Cain won the Presidency 5 straw poll here Saturday, delivering a blow to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s frontrunner status and a victory for a candidate who has struggled to transform his grassroots popularity into strong showings in national polls.
“Tonight’s winner is Herman Cain,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced. “It shows you something, the road to the White House come through Florida, and it pays to spend time here.”
He received 37 percent of the more than 2,600 votes cast.
“Thank you to the Republican voters for this incredible honor of being named the winner of the Presidency 5 straw poll in Florida today,” Mr. Cain said. “This is a sign of our growing momentum and my candidacy that cannot be ignored. I will continue to share my message of ‘common-sense solutions’ across this country and look forward to spending more time in Florida, a critical state for both the nomination and the general election.”
The two national frontrunners — Mr. Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — placed second and third. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, meanwhile, landed in fourth place; Rep. Ron Paul of Texas landed in fifth place; and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, sixth. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann finished last. (See the poll results here.)
Mr. Cain’s victory closed out a three-day Republican powwow at the sprawling Orange County Convention Center, where thousands of activists watched Mr. Perry stumbled through another debate, while some of the oft-overlooked candidates turned in perhaps their best performances yet.
Minutes before the vote, Mr. Cain, Mr. Santorum and Mr. Gingrich each personally address the crowd Saturday afternoon, while some of the other candidates sent surrogates to speak on their behalf.
Mr. Cain again vowed to replace the tax code with a 9 percent tax on businesses, personal income and sales. He also said that while the nation faces economic, global and moral crises, the “biggest crisis of all is a severe deficiency of leadership in Washington, D.C., and in the White House.”
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15 Responses
Being that Cain is not Presidential “material” (although I do like him), it seems the race is between Perry, Romney, and my man Santorum.
#1 – You don’t yhink that him being Black makes up for maybe not being “Presidential Material”? – I do.
MDshweks:
Not in the Republican Party, no.
I know it’s wish full thinking, but my dream ticket would be Rick Santorum for President and Marco Rubio For Vice President.
After all is said, I have this sicking feeling that Obama will win a second term. Yes, Americans are that dumb!!!
Given the way the people with proper backgrounds have been doing, having never held public office (what makes him “not presidential material”) may be an asset. Bush and Obama were both Ivy Leaguers (and WASP’s whose families dated back to the 1620s), with respectable backgrounds in government. Being a corporate CEO and chairman of a regional reserve bank are enough.
Cain has two respectable college degrees (not in law, business or economics – that’s a feature not a bug) from respectable non-elite universties. He’s actually had a real career in something other than finance. Some of his views are unconventional, but it looks like 2012 is a year for being unconventional.
Who decided that Herman Cain is not “presidential”? Another empty MSM misnomer. He’s about the only candidate who ever did anything in life. He’s the real deal. Think, don’t accept mantras.
Either way, ANY of the current Republican candidates would be a MAJOR improvement over President Zero.
Cain has been a businessman and served with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. That’s about it. It seems to me that Huntsman is the most qualified candidate (businessman, governor, ambassador to China, someone who urges the GOP to make itself palatable to moderates), but the race seems to be more about flash than substance.
#8 – assuming the financial crisis caused by the collapse of the Euro continues (and note that the policies that led to the crisis are identical to those the Tea Party complains about), anyone associated with Wall Street or Corporate Welfare is out of the question – which precludes virtually anyone with government experience. It’s like, saying you were an experienced bridge officer on the Titanic was a real “no no” on a resume. The Republican race is very much about substance.
Cain’s stance on Israel is amazing considering what has been in office for the past 3 years. He is a real conservative. I really like perry as well, but he tries to appease the libs as well, which i guess you have to if you want all the votes. Cain, bachman, romney, and santorum are the ones im following. Perry too i just which he would make up his mind about where he stands.
Cain is able!!
akuperma, by that measure Cain also has government experience — with the Fed, which is viewed with great suspicion by right wingers.
JON HUNTSMAN is the man, he speaks well, he has many acheivements, and more than qualified over any other candidate. If his team can get good funding, and the right people in place things can come togetjer for him.
Cain for VP, Gingrich for Pres? Gingrich by far has the experience and knowledge of how government works, and how to lead, and a clear outlook on foreign policy and terrorism, among other presidential concerns. He is staunchly pro-Israel and vocally against gay agendas. Soooooo, the giant question is……can we vote for a guy with such a checkered moral background. I gave this a lot of thought, I would like to know how Rabbaim answer this, but it looks to me like Gingrich has done teshuva in most of the sense that we understand teshuva. He publicly admitted many times over, in many venues that he acted wrongly, publicly said he asked God for forgiveness, and publicly speaks about his belief in a forgiving god. He devoted the last 10 years of his life to publicizing media material on the Creators role in shaping America, including a book and a video. It will be interesting to see how he will handle this challenge as it comes up in the debates and his campaign. If he has the strength to continue publicly admitting his wrongdoing and explaining how he did teshuva, he might just be the kind of leader we need. Or maybe I’m just being sucked in by something not authentic.
And BTW Perry & Romney insult intelligent people with their debate theatrics. I gave up on them.