"The Black vote" doesn't even know who Cain is yet. A good number of them don't even know he's black yet. That's because most Democrats aren't even paying any attention to what the Republicans are doing right now, other than soundbites they hear on TV or see in a headline. I'm talking about average Joe citizens, not political junkies like us. And the black community is typically even less engaged in politics than the average white Democrat, so they know even less about Cain.
Any poll conducted now, that includes Democrats is going to go to Obama almost every time. (1) Obama has the sitting President factor. (2) Romney has been running for 7 years and nobody on OUR side even likes him, so you can't expect any Dems to vote for him. (3) As for the other Repub candidates, we haven't chosen our candidate so Dems don't know who any of the other players are (except Newt). (4) We haven't promoted our nominee against Obama.
So when we choose our nominee, whoever that is, we will start bombarding the airwaves with campaign ads point out "How's that hope and change working out for you??" So ANY candidate that we choose will start to do better after we choose one, because we will start to contrast him/her with Obama.
If we choose Cain, THEN the black vote will suddenly realize that not only is he black, but he shares the same values as a lot of them do -- especially the over 50 crowd, who had values and work ethic.
Lastly, take a look at this article from Morehouse College - Cain's alma mater - which is an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities):
At Morehouse College, the Herman Cain question is a live wire
The article says, as we already know, that Cain will get a look simply because he is black.
IF he wins the nomination, I hope you're proven correct. You've made some very good points.
Can Cain resonant with black voters to the extent that their awakened conservative members pull the lever for him? I don't know now, but I like your optimism.