Posted on 09/24/2011 5:24:39 PM PDT by iowamark
From the bottom of the polls to the top of the pack, businessman Herman Cain won the Republican Party of Florida’s nationally watched presidential straw poll Saturday in a sign that frontrunner Rick Perry is in deep trouble.
Cain’s victory with 37 percent of the vote was a major defeat for Perry, the frontrunner in Florida and national polls, who garnered only 15 percent after wooing the nearly 3,000 party faithful with a free breakfast and mailers.
The vote also showed how soft Republican support is for Mitt Romney, who came in third with 14 percent. Unlike Perry, though, he avoided schmoozing the GOP voters, called delegates.
"Folks, this is what you call momentum," Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, said in a video message from his campaign bus. "The Herman Cain train is picking up steam."
That means more national media attention, heightened standing in the race and access to more fundraisers.
The straw poll is a mock election and doesn’t necessarily reflect the sentiment of the voters at large. In past years, it has predicted the party’s national nominee, but that streak could be in jeopardy because even some Cain voters had doubts about whether he was ready to be the party’s nominee.
Still, the vote is a major indication of how badly damaged Perry was by a poor debate performance Thursday when he fumbled answers and failed to give specifics.
Many straw poll voters were especially dissatisfied by the answers Perry gave over his moderate immigration position, the “Ponzi scheme” of Social Security and his plan to inoculate girls from human papillomavirus.
“I came in thinking Rick Perry,” said Tommy Langford,a Gilchrist County commissioner who voted for Cain. “I didn’t like the debate at all. I really thought Perry lost it. Mitt Romney called him on immigration. He said we have to take care of them. Not if they’re illegal, we don’t.”
Another big loser: Michele Bachmann, who came in last place. Once a top-tier candidate who won the Iowa straw poll, she has fallen from sight in the debates where she, too, fails to give specifics, excite delegates here or even reach out to them.
Perry issued a written statement congratulating Cain, saying the vote underscored the fact that the conservative message of job creation, fiscal responsibility and limited government is gaining momentum.
“Floridians and voters nationally want a candidate who is clear on the issues and talks honestly about the future,” Perry said, “not someone who takes multiple sides of an issue and changes views every election season. Today’s vote demonstrates that Floridians are energized and ready to help get America working again.”
Pinellas County delegate Rachelle Warmouth said that, if Perry lost, it wouldn’t be the end of his campaign. But when or lose, the debate performance and the effect it’s having on party loyalists are a call to step up his game.
“He’ll have to have a strong recovery,” she said. “He needs to focus on his message.”
Warmouth’s friend, Eileen Blackmer, agreed: “He needs to work on the three C’s: Be clear, be concise, be complete.”
Lee County delegate Dane Eagle said he’s for Romney. He likes the candidate’s message and polish on stage. And he fears that President Obama would walk all over Perry in debates.
“That’s what Obama does,” Eagle said. “He debates.”
St. Johns County delegate Randy Covington said he arrived in Orlando ready to vote for Perry, but the debate "shattered" that plan. Covington decided to support Cain after the businessman"s rousing speech on Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference. That event was wedged in between the party’s Presidency 5 Thursday debate and Saturday straw poll.
But Convington said he wasn’t sure if Cain would or should be the nominee. He said the primary shouldn’t be a two-man race.
"We need this process to go on," Covington said.
Gov. Rick Scott, who announced the results from the Orange County Convention Center stage, said the candidates “need to take very seriously whatever the results are.”
"It shows you something. Florida is important," Scott said from the Orange County Convention Center stage. "It pays to be here."
Me too.
Sorry, it ain’t Gardisil that got Bachmann in deep doo. It was her lack of judgement and impulsiveness in shooting her mouth off about a very serious issue without bothering to see if what she was “told” was factual. That will not go away, because it will not stop.
YES WE CAIN !!! :-)
From what I’ve seen, Cain has the fire in his belly.
Almost as importantly, he has the attitude we need (positive, affable, can-do,). As much as we need his intelligence, business know-how and leadershuip, as a country we need his ability to heal - to bring us back from the brink.
He’s the right guy delivering the right message the right way at the right time.
He’s the guy.
What on earth are you talking about? Are you sure you’re responding to something I wrote?
Riffing on my screenname is, btw, puerile.
Tokin and typing don’t mix very well.
The funniest part has to be Perry calling Romney a flip flopper. Seems to me they are both flip floppers. Perry supporting Gore in 88, completely missing the Reagan revolution,not to mention supporting Rudy in 2008.
Almost as funny as Perry calling Mittens slick. Sure Mittens is slick, but Perry is a slicker that will also say or do anything to be elected, kind of like the pot calling the kettle black
Perry has already done great harm, he has given the Dems a ready to go ad for the general election...WE HAVE NO HEART, he says, very self serving, shows he is only in it for self.
Now Gov Palin will have to deal with that as the nominee against Obama. I am sure Sarah will handle it beautifully!
Palin 2012 or bust
I think Mr. Cain is fantastic...as I said on the other thread, who am I to naysay him? If he, or someone who thought like him, won the nomination that would be fabulous. I don’t know if after Obama he could win a general election (against Obama, probably he could). But if he can move votes in a big way in a primary...then hell, let’s go, I’ll support him in far less than a New York Minute.
Kudos to Herman Cain, I’d vote for him without hesitation. But I still like Michelle Bachman. The thing I like about Bachman is that she has never flip-flopped over a major position such as illegal immigration, 2nd Amendment, global warming, government healthcare, support for Israel, or defunding the Dept of Education, the UN etc.
Of course, neither has Herman Cain.
Gov Palin isn`t interested in being the VP, she said it in her book. Personally to me it`s offensive to have her on the bottom of any ticket
Let`s get real...900 people voted for Cain today
Stick a fork in Bachmann, total joke
Obama and common sense.
Romney and Barack have to be stopped. Cain seems like an extreme long shot to me, but I would love to see him pull it off.
When Perry came out with that stupid comment of people having no heart, it reminded me of Bush 1 when he took over from Reagan and came out with his statement that he wanted a “more compassionate society”.
I knew then that the country was in trouble. RINOs always give me an uncomfortable feeling.
Perry has only been in the race for about a month. it is a little too soon to tell him to leave. Perry is a conservative not a liberal. He has always been a conservative. He obviously not a debater. However, these debates were a joke, but the Fox on was a little better. The liberal moderators were more interested in knocking off Perry than anything else. It was obvious. I am from TX and voted for Perry in 4 elections and will again. You vote for whom you like and probably get ready for Obama to be re-elected.
Got a feeling about those friends in Texas. Wouldn’t be paul/Mednina folks now would they. Why OF COURSE NOT!!!
yea you;re right I should keep it simple.
Perry totally lost me over his immigration.
I am from TX and like governor Perry. Humm, wonder where your so called friends live in TX. I sure am interested. I certainly know all about him and like what I know. I voted for him in 4 elections and will again.
If she does not take warning to be more circumspect in the future, agreed that she’ll be gone. But this one sound bite — pshaw. It’ll soon be lost in the noise. Some seem to be hoping she’ll keep on in that vein. Perhaps including you?
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