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Published October 05, 2011 | Special Report | Bret BaierSpecial Guests: Charles Krauthammer, A.B. Stoddard, Steve HayesThis is a rush transcript from "Special Report," October 5, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Cains share of the GOP primary has jumped 10 percentage points since Sept. 26 and is now at 38%. Mitt Romney is second with 18%, followed by both Rick Perry and Ron Paul, at 12% each.

Businessman Herman Cain, the upstart newcomer in the 2012 Republican primary field, has a new title: serious candidate for president. Once viewed as an interesting if provocative also-ran, Cain has elbowed his way to front-of-the-pack status with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the result of several strong debate appearances, a commanding victory in the Florida GOP straw poll last month, and a stubborn reluctance by conservative voters to accept Romney. The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll shows the former Godfather’s Pizza executive tied with Perry in second place, with 17 percent of the vote, one of several recent surveys catapulting...

This article has been updated. For the past two years, Herman Cain has written a weekly column that is advertised as "exclusive commentary" for WorldNetDaily, a website that is the online hub for people who believe that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.* Not one of Cain's 113 columns broaches the topic of Obama's birth, which are syndicated through North Star Writer's Group. He has used the column to build support for his presidential candidacy, outline his policy ideas on health care and economics and clarify his positions on the campaign trail.

Nicolle Wallace knows her politics. She served as White House communications chief under George W. Bush and also worked as a senior advisor on the McCain-Palin 2008 campaign. Her second novel, It's Classified, explores what would happen if a woman were plucked from relative obscurity and elected Vice President of the United States — only to find herself completely unprepared for the job. Wallace talked to TIME about the problem with likable politicians, why everyone in the White House eats constantly and her character's obvious similarity to Sarah Palin. This novel reads like a lighthearted novel for people interested in...

Last May, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie explained why he seems to relish conflict. “I have an Irish father,” said Christie, who on Tuesday announced that he would not seek the GOP presidential nomination, “and I had…a Sicilian mother. For those of you who have been exposed to the combination of Irish and Sicilian, it has made me not unfamiliar with conflict.” Meanwhile, Christie’s wife, Mary Pat, has not only been tabbed as a highly influential partner. She is also “the ninth of 10 kids in a close-knit Irish Catholic family,” according to the New York Post. A long time...

Now that Sarah Palin has confirmed her disinterest in running for the office of President the biggest question is which of her would be adversaries will benefit most from this decision? I think the answer is obvious, but what do the rest of you think?

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. submitted a resolution today in the House of Representatives to “call on Rick Perry to apologize for not immediately doing away with the rock that contained the word ‘N*****head’ at the entrance of a ranch he was leasing on and which he was taking friends, colleagues and supporters to hunt.” The Illinois Democrat took to the House floor today to read the resolution, and recapped the details of a Washington Post article titled, “Rick Perry and a Word Set on Stone,” which revealed details of the Texas governor’s association with a piece of hunting property in...

In 2008, I was a strong Mitt Romney supporter and was looking forward to casting my vote for him. Then, on Jan. 26, a mere three days before the primary, then-popular Gov. Charlie Crist sucker punched me by endorsing John McCain. I knew then that it was all over, and it was. Crist’s choice for the GOP presidential nominee became Florida’s choice. I was sucker punched again two years later, this time by both the Republican Party of Florida and the Republican National Senatorial Committee.

On Wedesday, we took a closer look at Herman Cain, who is spiking in recent polls — and taking a lot of his newfound support from Texas Guv Rick Perry. “Flavor of the week,” as Sarah Palin refers to her pal, “Herb Caen.” But Herb would trade in all those temporal poll numbers for what Perry has: Lots of cold, hard campaign contributions. Perry will report $17 mi miiiiiiiiiiiiiilllion in contributions over the past three months. That’s $17 million in 49 days — and THAT keeps Perry as an A-list candidate who can afford (for now) bad debate performances and...

Looking at recent polls, Herman Cain is the man. So, as with any front runner, it’s time to take a closer look at his campaign trail stump line known, affectionately, as “Nine, nine, nine.” At first it rattles off like classic Grand Slammer Boris Becker on court after hitting a poor shot. There’s also an angry scene in Quentin Tarantino’s bloody cult hit Inglorious Basterds that quickly flashes across the mind, but let’s pretend we didn’t see that. Ultimately, it’s the heart of Herman Cain’s big sell. So far, not only is it easy to remember, but it probably has...

Texas allows the children of undocumented immigrants to attend state colleges and universities at the in-state rate — a lower tuition rate than that paid by out-of-state and documented foreign students. Asked if illegal and undocumented immigrants should be treated as in-state students, 77 percent say no (67 percent strongly approve of ending that deal) and only 17 percent say it should continue... More than half (58 percent) say they would support an end to bilingual education in Texas public schools. Attempts to put an "English-only" amendment into the Texas Constitution have failed for years, getting bogged down in the...

Following Governor Christie’s announcement on Tuesday top GOP official and bundler Gerogette Mosbacher told reporters, “We do not consider Perry a factor… We know who will be our nominee.” Race for 2012 reported: Those words were spoken today by Georgette Mosbacher, RNC Finance Co-Chair and huge GOP fundraiser, after Chris Christie’s announcement. The “we” is all the big bundlers, fundraisers, and money folks who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the field to be set — and that quote represents the coalescing around Mitt Romney that is expected to happen rather quickly now. Mosbacher went on to say:...

180 different operations span the globe with liberal news.Books, newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, websites and cutting edge videos. The pieces of the George Soros media empire are as diverse as the nations of the world and just as widespread. From nakedly partisan left-wing media like Think Progress, the blog for the Center for American Progress, and a TV show on MSNBC, to the supposedly impartial National Public Radio, Soros has impact on the flow of information worldwide.It gives him incredible influence. Every month, reporters, writers and bloggers at the many outlets he funds easily reach more than 330 million...

A new survey reveals how Americans view the current top tier presidential candidates when it comes to honesty, intelligence, philosophy of government and leadership ability. And who came out on top? President Barack Obama was chosen as the most honest and most intelligent. The Barna survey, released Wednesday, asked Americans to rate Obama and two of the top Republican candidates – former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry – on those four attributes. The public gave the best ratings to Obama on every attribute except leadership ability. Nearly half (48 percent) of those surveyed rated Obama's honesty...

Skip ahead to 9:40 for the key bit. The left, understandably, is salivating over this soundbite, coinciding as it does with Cain’s rise to frontrunner status and the media’s push to make the Wall Street protests into a Very Big Deal. The whole thrust of Obama’s re-election message on the economy next year is to counter his incompetence with the GOP’s supposed callousness: Yes, granted, things are a disaster, but he cares a lot and is trying super-hard whereas Republicans don’t care much about the average American at all. Aren’t you better off with a guy who doesn’t know how...

Governor Sarah Palin mattered. She had gathered a terrific following and upset all of the right people. Conservatives loved her and liberals feared her. They were both right to do so. For the conservatives, she had the unique combination of being right on the issues with a national presence, political machine, steel spine, gumption, charm and a salt-of-the-Earth attitude which comes from being one of the people--rather than one of society's elites. She was a fierce independent who battled both parties and their corruption. In every battle she fought her way (and 2008 was not fought her way), she won....

Mitt Romney has been looking steady and solid in recent weeks, especially compared to the rest of the field, which has stumbled (Perry’s debate performances) or bumbled (Bachman’s overkill of the vaccine issue). This is, as I mentioned a few weeks back, to be expected of a first tier candidate on his second run for the office. He’s seen big league pitching before, and is now comfortable at the plate, able to hit the hard sliders and spitballs that come with a modern presidential campaign. Still. A friend reminded me the other day of a detail I had forgotten from...

Last night, Sarah Palin's statement -- and her breaking news interview with Mark Levin -- stressed some extremely important ideas. As such, her not running might well be among the least important topics she touched on. Yes, I know that's the news that everybody was waiting for -- but what interested me most was what Palin said about her vision for America and how she said it. It was crafted very intentionally --and it was simply pitch-perfect. Palin spoke of ideas and priorities. These were above and beyond what particular position she -- or anyone else -- might play in...

Herman Cain is the American story. Born the son of a chauffeur and house cleaner, his rise to the highest levels of corporate management and now as a prominent conservative leader is truly extraordinary. After earning a Master's degree from Purdue, he served in the U.S. Navy, shared the pastorate of a Baptist church, beat stage IV cancer and finished second in a three-way bid for a U.S. Senate seat. His life as a celebrated CEO of Godfather's Pizza and turnaround expert has given Herman Cain an unparalleled national platform. Hailing from Georgia, Herman is married to his wife, Gloria,...