Posted on 10/05/2011 4:26:40 PM PDT by justsaynomore
GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, once the longest of long shots, is surging in polls across the country and now leads the field among N.C. Republicans.
Cain's gains have come at the expense of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has fallen as much as the Atlanta businessman has climbed.
Combined with the unsuccessful courtship of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the polls suggest a GOP electorate still looking for a 2012 flag-bearer.
"Part of what these numbers demonstrate is the volatility within the Republican electorate," said Adolphus Belk, a political scientist at Rock Hill's Winthrop University. "Republicans ... haven't fallen in love with anyone yet."
As if to underscore that, Christie on Tuesday formally spurned the advances of establishment Republicans looking for another candidate.
"Now is not my time," he told reporters in Trenton. "For me the answer was never anything but no. My job here in New Jersey was always my passion."
Christie's decision appears to freeze the Republican field, at least for now, in an election season suddenly becoming squeezed.
Monday's decision by S.C. Republicans to move up their primary five weeks to Jan. 21 will push contests in Iowa and New Hampshire even earlier, to just after the holidays. All that gives any new candidate less time to raise the money and build the organization needed for success in the early states.
That leaves many Republican voters still searching.
A survey released Tuesday by Raleigh's Public Policy Polling shows Cain leading his rivals in North Carolina, Nebraska and West Virginia.
In North Carolina, the Atlanta businessman has the support of 27 percent of Republican voters. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich were next at 17 percent.
Perry, who led last month with 35 percent, had the support of 15 percent of GOP voters.
The margin of error is 4.9 percentage points for the North Carolina and Nebraska results, and 5.7 percentage points for the West Virginia survey.
The N.C. poll wasn't the only good news for Cain. A national poll by the Washington Post and ABC News this week showed that Romney leads announced GOP candidates with 25 percent, with Perry and Cain tied for second with 16 percent. That represents a 12-point rise for Cain and a 13-point drop for Perry since last month.
And another poll shows Cain narrowly trailing Romney among Florida Republicans, with Perry in fourth place behind Gingrich.
The polls were done after Cain's surprise victory Sept. 24 in Florida Republicans' presidential straw poll. And they followed debate performances and controversies that soured many conservative Republicans on Perry.
"It's not so much what Cain did but what Perry did," said Tom Jensen, director of the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling. "Conservative voters are really souring on Perry and looking for somebody else to support."
Many Republicans, for example, dislike the fact that Perry signed a bill giving many illegal immigrants in-state tuition at Texas colleges.
"Not only has he endorsed that, but he's been bragging about it," said Bucky Sutton, a retired Rock Hill voter who has been to see Perry and Cain.
Cain, the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, appears to be picking up much of that support.
He's popular with tea partyers and social conservatives. He prides himself on not being a politician or being politically correct. He's pushing a "9-9-9" plan to enact a 9 percent flat tax on business, a 9 percent tax on personal income and a 9 percent national sales tax.
"First, he's talking about a flat tax," said Belk, of Winthrop. "Then I think that his background as a minister helps him with social conservatives within the party. He speaks their language. And he makes a point of telling them he shares their socially conservative values."
In an opinion piece Tuesday on Fox News, Cain acknowledged his rising visibility.
"Even though the Cain Train is picking up steam ... many in the mainstream media still haven't given me a shot," he wrote. "Fortunately, more have started to take note."
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/05/2439419/herman-cain-leads-gop-field-in.html#ixzz1Zx5mC0jX
A blast from the crapper! LOL
Actually, Hermie said it was “insensitive”. Sounds just like a thin skinned liberal.
He has a degree in mathematics as well!
And except for, maybe, Gingrich, no one else running, Republican or Democrat, is exactly a foreign policy expert.
I don’t like your lowlife style of posting.
Be more careful when you sport the name of the Lord in your tagline.
NO...I’m sick of slick politicians who HAVE foreign policy experience, etc....maybe you’d rather have Hillary?
I don’t understand the vitriol against Cain coming from some Freepers. Sour grapes for Sarah not running? From what I have discovered about Cain, he is up to the job, loves America, isn’t a whinner, he’s a hard worker, very smart (unlike idiot Obama), self-made, has a lovely wife, understands business. Not sure what some don’t like about him. As for foreign policy, maybe he’ll tap John Bolton for Secretary of State. I would love that.
I think it would be smart to know the whole story before you comment on it. He was way too quick to yank that race card not knowing the whole situation.
“Stop the insults, please. It’s not becoming. If you are supporting another candidate present their strengths!”
Amen, well said and worth repeating. When has an insult every changed somebody’s opinion/attitude? Putting people down doesn’t win them over to your side. Conservatives should exchange strong, rational and respectful arguments—and may the best candidate win.
Well, which other candidates other than Huntsman have this experience? Oh wait, I forgot, Perry is snuggly with the Muslims and has policy experience with Mexico. My bad.
The tax structure he is proposing requires a 2/3rds or Super Majority of the Senate to vote to raise it.
That means on any proposed increases you can contact your Senator and tell him/her to vote against any increases.
His plan is well thought out. Go to his website and check it out.
The vitriol comes from the Perrybots and some of the closeted Slick Willardbots.
Actually, in a devious way, playing off the "vanilla" front runners in the GOP gives him room to appeal to blacks who otherwise would never consider voting for a GOP candidate. If he puts some distance between himself and the "vanilla" republicans, that creates some room and makes it a little easier for a black democrat to cross over and support him.
BTW, if Cain could really bring anything close to the 33% black support along with him the Democratic party would be finished for good.
I am serious. They must have 85% or more or they are toast.
That is your opinion and you are entitled to it.
I will defend to the death your right to an opinion.
Cain is another Ubama, plain and simple.
It’s sad that they can’t get away with the obsession with RACE.
Even though you are “sick of politicians,” is it really better to make a joke out of the process?
Can you, for one level-headed minute, actually picture Herman Cain as PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?
Please, get a grip and re-think this. Santorum, Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry and Romney are all better choices.
The 999 is only a stopgap measure (1-2 years) transition to repeal of the 16th and the Fair Tax.
These rates can only be changed with 2/3 majority, and since EVERYONE will be paying taxes, and no loopholes, there is the people can put huge pressure on Congress not to change anything.
Plus - no taxes on used goods.
This plan puts many more constraints on Congress than currently exists.
Ouch! No thanks. FR is a Romney free zone, pussycat. We’ve been opposing Willard for years. Wake up!
I’ll take Perry, you can have Palin. LOL
If Cain had been hunting in a place that said “honkyhead”, I would have been upset!
I didn’t say it wasn’t a good plan. Anything that gets me paying less taxes is fine in my book. I just meant that I don’t like the prospect of having one new tax in place without the older one repealed first. Too many opportunities for Dems to screw around.
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