Herman Cain gets more votes than Perry, Romney combined in Florida mock election

By: Rebecca Kaplan
Topics: In The News ,; Campaign 2012

Cain, a Georgia businessman whose compelling personal story - he grew up poor and black and beat cancer - and fiery rhetoric about the need to simplify the tax code and jump-start the economy struck a chord with Republican activists here, won 37 percent of the 2,657 votes cast. Perry, who made a late but spirited effort in the state, got 15 percent. Romney, who had announced earlier he is not competing in straw polls, came in third with 14 percent of the vote.

Trailing the top three: Sen. Rick Santorum, 11 percent; Rep. Ron Paul, 10 percent; Newt Gingrich, 8 percent; former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, 2 percent and Michele Bachmann, 1 percent.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks prior to Florida's President 5 straw poll at the Orange County Convention Center on September 24, 2011 in Orlando, Florida.

(Credit: Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

ORLANDO - Herman Cain was the clear winner Saturday of a straw poll of Republican activists in this battleground state, amassing more votes that the frontrunners for the presidential nomination, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, combined.

The mock election run by the state party capped a three-day convention where Cain and former Santorum appeared to pick up new supporters as the front-runners stagnated or stumbled. Bachmann, Romney and Huntsman had previously announced they would not be campaigning for straw poll votes, though their names appeared on the ballot.

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Only Cain, Santorum, Gingrich and Paul stayed to make closing arguments to the attendees on Saturday afternoon. Bachmann and Romney left Friday evening after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and Perry left early Saturday morning after hosting a breakfast for the delegates.

Before the voting commenced, both Romney and Perry headed to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Mackinac Island, Mich., where that state's Republican party is also holding a convention and straw poll this weekend. The Michigan results, tabulated by National Journal's Hotline, will be announced Sunday morning in Hotline On Call.

This is the first time in more than a decade that Florida Republicans have held a straw poll, but in the past, the contest has accurately predicted the winners of the GOP presidential nomination: Delegates voted for Ronald Reagan in 1979, George H.W. Bush in 1987 and Bob Dole in 1995.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Florida Gov. Rick Scott predicted Republicans in his state would repeat that performance. "I believe whoever wins this straw poll on Saturday will be the Republican nominee and I believe the Republican nominee will be the next president," he said.

Rebecca Kaplan
Rebecca Kaplan covers the 2012 presidential campaign for CBS News and National Journal.
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by sharkboy234 September 27, 2011 2:50 AM EDT: WE NEED HIM NOW VOTE FOR HERMAN CAIN NOW RIGHT NOW YES WE NEED HI M IN RIHGT NOW HE WILL BECOMING HISTROIC 50 STATE SWEEP! HE IN IT TO WIN IT BLACK VOTERS NEED TO UPGRADE TO GOP RIGHT NOW!; Reply to this comment

by noloyalisti September 26, 2011 8:24 PM EDT

The Republicons are uncaring, lying scoundrels that need to be made an obsolete band of cheating thugs. They have been wrong about EVERYTHING and the ONLY reason they are in office is because they have gone to bed with the greedy rich who buy them into office.

Enough is enough.

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by JV1970 September 27, 2011 1:30 PM EDT: You might as well settle down and get used to them because in 2012 the Republicans are not only going to win the House but this time they're going to win the Senate and the White house too!

by bazhuk September 26, 2011 7:13 PM EDT

How many heads will blow up if Obama and Herman end up fighting it out for the Presidency? Wouldn't that be sumtin'?

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by JV1970 September 27, 2011 1:31 PM EDT: Cain would win by a landslide!


by noloyalisti September 26, 2011 6:49 PM EDT: The Republicons are pathetic, they have no candidates, no plan and no concept of how to run a government. They have 30 years of failed history in the US and they expect anyone but a few ignorant, misled and conflicted people to vote for them? Please.; Reply to this comment

by nomorelibs September 26, 2011 1:43 PM EDT

You can always tell when a new front runner arises. The libs all go on the attack. The only problem this time, is they won't be able to play the race card. It will be difficult for them to fight this battle. Go Herman!!

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by JV1970 September 26, 2011 1:58 PM EDT: A couple of months ago some liberals in these comment boards did play the card anyway. They called Cain a Uncle Tom. They think that any black who isn't a liberal is a Uncle Tom.


by forsanity1 September 26, 2011 7:24 PM EDT: Herman Cain won a straw poll, he is not the front runner. Rick Perry is still the front runner.

You should try to educate yourself as to what these things mean, before you comment on them.

by mary-miami September 26, 2011 12:40 PM EDT

Teaparty Cain once said, that rights should be privileges that the government should dole out to whomever it selects. He would get rid of citizen voting rights and create a system where only "owners" could vote. He said that people who rent their houses/apartments should not be allowed to vote. He would also remove the First Amendment from our Constitution effectively crushing the right to free speech, press, religion, peaceful assembly, protest and petition. At that point the United States would cease to be a "free country". It is not surprising that Cain won the straw poll in Florida...look who they have for a governor, another Teaparty member. Florida has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the US, and poverty is rampant in South Florida where you have a a population that is either very affluent or very poor; practically no middle class exists there. Thousands of people of all races and ethnic groups appreciate what President Obama has done to help save our US from crashing from the GOP induced Depression. Teaparty is dangerous because it's sole purpose is to have absolute power. They have diminished the strength of the moderate Republicans who have traditionally tried to find common ground with the Democrats to create laws that help our nation. Teaparty caused the fiasco that occured in Congress earlier this year, just because of the Teaparty bratty attitude of "me, me, me". Teaparty has many racist members because they hail from the nazi ideology. They are just waiting to gather more strength before they reveal it. That is why they want to remove the First Amendment from the Constitution. Without the First Amendment we would not be a "free country". Don't take your freedom for granted. The Constitution should be respected and left as it is. I believe in a free United States and I will vote to re-elect President Obama in 2012.

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by rob98ss September 26, 2011 3:05 PM EDT: "....poverty is rampant in South Florida where you have a a population that is either very affluent or very poor; practically no middle class exists there."

Do you think there is any correlation to this and the Reps. in Congress from south Florida are Democrat/Liberal? This should answer your concern rather easily, just use a little common sense is all it takes.


by mamasaid1 September 26, 2011 10:24 AM EDT: Cain is advocating the Pinochet Plan for Social Security, which is a dismal failure in Chile. More that half of the country is not covered and those that opted to go with the private "investment" plans have found that the enormous fees associated with these plans have left them destitute. I don't know about you but a $300 per month pension sounds pretty bad to me. Those that stayed with the government plan are 3 times better off. The architech of the Chilean privatization plan is now a senior fellow at the liberatian Cato Institute. Which is funded by the Kochs. Surprise , surpirse. Cain has also been accused of mishanding employees pensions, in a previous job, all the employees lost their pensions. Sorry but you can't make me vote for stupid.; Reply to this comment

by daffy64 September 26, 2011 8:45 AM EDT

I'm afraid Cain has shown his stripes as a genuine bigot. His idea of banning certain religions from building places of worship wherever they want is inexcusable and goes against everything the USA stands for.

He did apologize for saying it. And that's a good thing. But his morals have been show to be fundamentally wrong.

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by JV1970 September 26, 2011 11:01 AM EDT: Cain is a born again Evangelical and a proud Southerner and so am I. His morals reflect mine and most Southerners. We are and always have been different than Northerners and we are very proud of that! It's a simple fact that you Northerners just don't understand us and we really don't care! We are what we are and we are proud of it and aren't about to change! Also I don't think most of you understand or know anything about the Evangelical religion and you really don't want to know anything about it. And another thing, this might not seem very Christian but since 9/11 and the Ft. Hood shooting I think Cain is like me in another way. He is having trouble trusting Moslems. I think most Southerners feel the same way.


by rob98ss September 26, 2011 12:31 PM EDT: First it was that the tea party was a bunch of racist. Now, Cain is considered a bigot? Your lack of intelligence and your ignorance is typical left wing, liberal thinking. Truth be known, Cain would beat Hussein in a land slide because he represents true, Main Street common sense thinking alone. Furthermore, with Cain, supported by the tea party, being black blows your (and other liberals) fearful racist/bigot thinking completely out of the water!

by elenin_sept26 September 26, 2011 5:43 AM EDT

See BS and the rest of the MSM knows that Cain would be the biggest threat to Obama. That is why they prop up Romney and Perry. Even David Plouff said yesterday on Fox News Sunday that the only two candidates were the later.

Face it, Cain has a record of taking a company that was in trouble and turning it around. Obama also has a record, his is one of taking a country that was in trouble and making it worse.

Obama ran on the hope and change stuff the last time, this time he has to run on a record, his is broken...

spend more money, blame someone else skip... spend more money, blame someone else.... skip... spend more money.....

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by JV1970 September 26, 2011 11:09 AM EDT: True! Very true! Obama promised hope and change. People forgot there are two kinds of change. There's change for the better and change for the worse. The only change we've seen is for the worse!


by forsanity1 September 26, 2011 7:32 PM EDT: Two uninformed votes... see above.

It is your right to vote, but it SHOULD be your responsibility to be informed.

The overall economy has improved. No, not nearly as much as we want -- but going backwards [to failed GOP ideas] is not the answer to acheive the goals all Americans want.

by theZengerite September 25, 2011 11:42 PM EDT

Anybody that Newsweek called the "Primary Saboteur of Hillarycare" during the Democrats first attempt at Socialised Medicine is the candidate for me. He challenged the fiscal reality of Hillarycare by telling President Clinton "In the competitive marketplace, it simply doesn't work that way."
The GOP needs to nominate the person who can best contest not just "Obamacare", but Dodd / Frank, the dollar devaluation, and drilling moratoriums for what they are: tax & spend, liberal, wealth redistribution. Cain can articulate a refute of the policies of this administration and he can use his experience as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve of Kansas City for a new, prosperity-based fiscal policy. Also, his business experience with Godfather Pizza is an asset that will prove to be invaluable.

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by forsanity1 September 26, 2011 7:38 PM EDT: We do not have socialized medicine in the USA, definitely not under the PPACA.

You obviously don't understand that [US] deregulation is at the root of the financial crisis that is the root of the current economic troubles in the USA... and the world.

How has the dollar been devalued?

The drilling moratoriums are no longer in place.

Tax and spend is a far better plan than the GOP borrow and spend one that they has been their procedure for years and years, at least since Reagan!

Cain is a likeable guy. However, he is not going to be POTUS and that is good for America. We don't need a business man as the executive in a government such as our Constitutionally created representative republic!