Herman Cain's surge could lead to increased scrutiny at GOP debate

With a handful of new polls showing Herman Cain neck-and-neck with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, all eyes are now turning to the former Godfather's Pizza CEO - once considered a third-tier presidential candidate and a veritable longshot for the GOP nomination - ahead of Tuesday night's Washington Post/Bloomberg debate.

As of May, Cain was polling at just eight percent support in a national Gallup poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. But a new survey from the same organization has the Georgia Republican surging to 18 percent support - ranking second only to Mitt Romney, who garnered 20 percent, and ahead of Texas Governor Rick Perry, whose support dropped from 31 percent to 15 percent since September.

It's not the only poll with Cain's numbers on the upswing: A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday has Cain tied with Romney among Virginia Republicans, and one survey - by the American Research Group - has Cain leading Romney by a point.

Now, as Republicans head into another Republican debate on Tuesday night, many wonder if Cain will be able to maintain this latest uptick of support - or if, like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry before him, his momentum will fade after a few weeks in the spotlight.

Cain, for his part, has been doing his best to prevent a flameout.

In a flurry of appearances since his surprise upset at Florida's Straw Poll last month, the candidate has insisted he isn't a "flavor of the week," and that his popularity will continue to rise.

But the candidate, known for his conservative and sometimes controversial positions, hasn't yet had to face serious scrutiny from other candidates during the Republican presidential debates.

That's likely to change tonight.

Already, Cain has taken heat for accusing protesters affiliated with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement of "jealousy" and playing the "victim card." He's also raised some eyebrows in the black community by arguing that the African American community has been "brainwashed" into voting for Democrats.

"I think he needs to get off the symbolic crackpot," prominent liberal African American academic Cornell West said of Cain in a recent interview.

Legendary African American singer Harry Belafonte, too, called Cain a "bad apple" in the black community.

Cain pushed back against the comments in an interview with Fox News, calling West "out of touch with the real world" because of his background in academia. Of Belafonte's comments, he said: "As far as Harry Belafonte's comment, look, I left the Democrat plantation a long time ago. And all that they try to do when someone like me - and I'm not the only black person out there that shares these conservative views."

He added that "the only tactic that they have, to try and intimidate me and shut me up, is to call me names and this sort of thing."

"It just simply won't work," he said.

Already, Cain's 2012 competitors have started to target him more seriously in light of what appears to be his growing influence.

Rick Santorum, the former two-term Pennsylvania senator who has yet to crack the double-digits in the polls, recently released an ad targeting Romney, Perry and Cain, the latter of whom he accuses of "strongly" supporting "the Wall Street bailouts." Santorum also targeted Cain's "9-9-9" tax plan, noting that he would prefer a "zero-zero-zero" plan.

"I've got a better plan. It's the zero-zero-zero plan," he said at last week's Values Voter Summit.

Romney, meanwhile, was quick to compliment the former CEO when asked about him in a recent question-and-answer session, but pointed out that while Cain was a "terrific guy," he had never held public office.

If patterns from previous debates hold true, Cain's newfound frontrunner status will place him firmly in the bulls-eye of tonight's event.

Speaking to Sean Hannity Monday night, Cain didn't seem overly concerned by that prospect.

"One of the great things about this country is if you put your mind on something, and don't play the victim card, you can make it," he said. "I'm the living proof of that."