Cain Wins Florida Straw Poll

Supposed “backburner” presidential candidate Herman Cain may have just turned up the heat by a few degrees.
Cain not only won the non-binding poll, but won it big.  Garnering 37% of the votes cast Cain easily doubles the finish of the current national front runner, Governor Rick Perry, who weighed in with 15%.  Former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney took the bronze with 14%.  Former Senator Rick Santorum finished with 11%, Congressman Ron Paul garnered 10.5% and former Utah Governor could only muster 2%, Congresswoman Michelle Bachman, who won the coveted Iowa straw poll only a few weeks ago, closed out the field with only 1%.

Straw polls in general are not regarded as true and accurate assessments of the voting public in general, since the format is less precise than the standard primary.  However, Herman Cain has been turning heads with his down to earth style and easily digestible economic plans.  He has made good to great showings in all of the debates to date, but the straw poll victory could indicate a turn in the numbers.

Lest we forget, a so-called “second tier” candidate named Mike Huckabee stepped straight into the major leagues with his upset win in the Iowa Caucuses and eventually rode it to second place in the primaries.  Lest we also forget, that Ronald Reagan won the Florida straw poll in 1979, George H.W. Bush won in 1987, and Senator Bob Dole topped the vote in 1995.

Cain’s showing at last Thursday’s Republican debate was the catalyst for his victory in the straw poll. With Perry and Romney busy trading barbs, Cain was able to not only reinforce his strong “9-9-9” tax plan, but took high honors in the emotion category for his personal testimony of being a stage 4 cancer survivor.

Again, only time will tell if this is a wave that will vault Herman Cain into the top echelon of candidates, but he will definitely get some attention and, one would figure that his VP stock may have just doubled.