Herman Cain Surges Ahead in New Poll; Mitt Romney, Allahpundit Hardest Hit

Posted on | October 12, 2011 | 42 Comments

Being the guy who has been talking up Herman Cain since Nov. 13, 2010, pretty much guarantees nobody will give you credit when the impossible actually happens:

Fueled by Tea Party supporters, conservatives and high-interest GOP primary voters, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain now leads the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. . . .
Cain checks in as the first choice of 27 percent of Republican voters in the poll, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 23 percent and Perry at 16 percent. . . .
In the previous survey, conducted in late August, Perry led the field at 38 percent, Romney stood at 23 percent, while Cain was at only 5 percent.

In the span of six weeks, Cain has gained 22 points and Perry has lost 22 points. And so the guy I started boosting 11 months ago is trouncing the guy whom I dubbed “The Phantom Menace” three months ago. But no linky-love for the Blogger Whom Allah Hateth. Instead, we get this kind of contingency/hypothetical doomsaying:

Even if Cain pulls the upset in South Carolina — which isn’t impossible given its social conservatism and Cain’s southern roots — how does he compete with Romney in a state as expensive as Florida and in the dozens of primaries that’ll follow that? . . .
Via Greg Hengler, here’s a “3 a.m. phone call” compare-and-contrast between Cain and Gingrich on the subject of how they’d handle the Iranian terror plot. This sort of thing — plus the fact that his 9-9-9 plan has alienated tax warriors like Grover Norquist — could knock Cain back enough by the time Iowa arrives to restore Perry to frontrunner status in the all-important “Not Romney” competition. Problem is, I have no confidence that Perry’s answer to this question would be any better than Cain’s. And, giving how Perry tends to avoid interviews, he probably doesn’t have any confidence either. Exit question: Second look at Gingrich?

Resisting the temptation to blame raaaaacism for all these doubts about Cain — whose emergence as front-runner none of the “smart” pundits ever imagined possible — I’ll instead attribute it to their unwillingness to speak the Four Dreaded Words: “Stacy McCain Was Right.”

Meanwhile, if Allah wants to raise doubts about any GOP candidate’s “electability,” let him watch this video from Ryan Gill at Tea Party Brew:

And as for “second look at Gingrich,” my answer can be summarized in two words: Dede Scozzafava.

Category: Herman Cain, Hot Air, Mitt Romney, Polls, Rick Perry

Comments

42 Responses to “Herman Cain Surges Ahead in New Poll; Mitt Romney, Allahpundit Hardest Hit”

smitty
October 12th, 2011 @ 10:33 pm

I’m genuinely interested in hearing Herman Cain expound on the Federal Reserve. Sowell called it a cancer.
Joe
October 12th, 2011 @ 10:34 pm

Herman Cain should give you a shout out. But that is okay, wait till he is President and then get seated in the front row (the good think is Helen Thomas is no longer there).
Anonymous
October 12th, 2011 @ 10:49 pm

Right with you on Cain!
Michael
October 12th, 2011 @ 10:54 pm

This is the high point for Cain he has nowhere to go but down. He is now a target and I question if he is playing to beat Romney. I hate the republican field and would be stunned if we don’t end up with 4 more years of Hussein. Palin could have beat Obama but she passed on running and now we are stuck with crap. Cain is unvetted and unchallenged and it will be downhill over the next 3 months for him. The republican nomination is starting to remind of professional wrestling.
Michael
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:02 pm

All downhill from this point on for Herman Cain. Perry can’t go much lower and neither can the rest of the field. If Cain is the nominee it will be awful. Perry is probably not dead and will recover. The big money behind Perry won’t let him die. Cain will begin to expire soon. I just question why everybody good passed on 2012. from Palin to Pence and Ryan.
CalMark
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:04 pm

Funny…I remember, not so long ago, when the Establishment Candidate was a nasty old fella named John, that when he began making gains, they sang, “Hosanna! He’s gonna win!”

Herman Cain makes even greater gains, and the same people begin to talk about his non-viability, and start dissecting how he’s gonna lose. After all, it’s inevitable. Romney has been anointed. Hosanna!

I hope they’re proven wrong, wrong, wrong!
CalMark
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:05 pm

Good night, man. Let’s just all crawl into a cave, give up hope, and curl up and die, shall we? It’s all over, all is lost, we’ll never recover.

Sheesh.
Joe
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:06 pm

Top Ten Reasons Newt Gingrich Is Dead To Me:

10. Admitted to ethics violations while Speaker of the House (okay, I would forgive this one as a hatchet job by the Dems, but the vote against him was 395 to 28 for reprimand).
9. $500,000 open Tiffany Account (sorry Daddy Warbucks, that is always a liability for an American politician, but especially in a depression. And what kind of guy requires a Tiffany Account to keep his wife happy?)
8. Served exwife with divorce papers when she was in hospital for cancer.
7. Failed to follow through on Contract With America/alienated his own party in process. Tied with, lost his campaign staff recently, managed to alientate them all by taking a Med cruise during his early campaign.
6. Made any slight to him (real or imagined) known to the press, got a reputation as a prima donna (this is somewhat forgivable because Republicans get treated with a double standard, but Newt has the personality for a lead in “Black Swan”).
5. Impeached Clinton but failed to get the job done, managed to make Clinton look sympathetic; Impeached Clinton but failed to realise that if he was successful would have resulted in Al Gore being President and almost certainly re-elected in 2000.
4. Argued for global warming/carbon tax.
3. Callista scares me.
2. Dede Scozzafava.

And the number one reason:

1. Betrayed Paul Ryan’s Budget Control Efforts.
Politics Mama
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:09 pm

Loving this and loving Cain. I just wrote about him myself today. I’ve had my eye on him from the day he announced and I like where he’s headed. It’s b.s. to say he isn’t electable. What does that even mean. We can elect who we believe in. Come on people!
Finrod Felagund
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:16 pm

You might believe that if you post this enough times, you’ll make it come true.

Good luck with that.
Finrod Felagund
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:18 pm

Newt Gingrich is like the big-name college football team that had two ugly losses early in the season, but is still in the national title race near the end of the season because they have no more losses / haven’t screwed up anything lately.
Joe
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:23 pm

Dude, Newt Gingrich is like the Cubs. Sometimes a complete failure, sometimes almost makes it, but ultimately can’t get the job done. Oliver Wendell Holmes said FDR had a first class personality, second class intellect. But as Lowry/NRO noted, Newt has a first class intellect, steerage personality. Newt will implode. He cannot help himself.
Anonymous
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:34 pm

It’s kinda funny how a RINO backstabber like Maverick was “acceptable” to the Establishment, but Herman Cain won’t do. If he can manage to pull this off — and turning an October poll lead into a nomination at Tampa will not be easy — he could make a fortune selling crow dinners to Beltway pundits.
Finrod Felagund
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:36 pm

From rasmussenreports.com:

Generic Republican 47, Obama 41
Obama 43, Romney 41
Obama 42, Cain 39
Obama 49, Perry 35

I’d quote you links but Rasmussen has put a bunch of his stuff behind a pay wall recently.
Anonymous
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:38 pm

The mitten inevitability meme will grow day by day now earlier caucus and primary contests may be help Cain. If all but one other candidate dropped out, does Romney still stay at 30% or less? Would undecided take the lead?
Joe
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:45 pm

These are not bad numbers, in they absolutely mean nothing right now. Once there is a nominee running against Obama then let’s look at polls.
Joe
October 12th, 2011 @ 11:48 pm

I worry about Romney running away with it, but he is not going to run away with Iowa, he won’t run away with South Carolina, and Florida is up for grabs. A lot can happen.

That said, I am predicting Romney/Cain. I am not voting that way (I like Cain). I am not promoting that. It is just a prediction. So ignore me and follow your own hearts/minds.
Adjoran
October 13th, 2011 @ 12:21 am

It would be more fun with Helen there – before Cain came out you could lean over and say, “Hey, Helen, did you know that Cain is really a Jew? Yep, one of those Zionists so committed to the international Zionist cause that, like Sammy Davis, Jr., he went so far as to covert to Negritude to further it?”

Then sit back and watch her explode.

Come to think of it, it might be a good idea to carry plastic sheeting like you’re attending a Gallagher performance.
Finrod Felagund
October 13th, 2011 @ 12:23 am

It does blow a hole in the argument “Romney is the only one that can beat Obama”, though.
Christine Lewis
October 13th, 2011 @ 12:24 am

Wasn’t this time, four and a half years ago, that people were saying Obama didn’t have a chance.. that he couldn’t compete with the ‘Clinton machine’..
Cain won Florida by renting a bus with his face on it, and driving around talking to people. People LOVE Herman Cain.
Adjoran
October 13th, 2011 @ 12:26 am

Enjoy the numbers.

Then think about Perry’s numbers, and where they were 4-8 weeks ago.

Moving the primary schedule up doesn’t help Cain, who as recently as two weeks ago had only 30 paid staffers spread around five or six states. He would have to work on those early states more now, when he needs to be fundraising and building organizations in other states.
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 12:56 am

I want to see Coulter eating crow served off Christie’s hairy back, she pushed him as the alternative to Romney and the son of a bitch turned around and endorsed him.
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 1:00 am

Conservatives for Cthulhu would find any given hobo who was willing to change his name to Generic Republican and run wearing a Mexican Wrestlers mask to be preferable to mittens.
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 1:03 am

Are you planning to assassinate Romney? Otherwise given his apparent good health, Conservatives for Cthulhu see no reason to care who is cat paw covers running mate.
alwaysfiredup
October 13th, 2011 @ 1:06 am

Er…

None of those objections really matters. Seriously, Callista is your #2 reason? He’s got a great voting record, despite being something of a windbag, and a record of accomplishing things in challenging circs. I’m not seeing a downside.
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 1:09 am

The winds of my whims are changing, and your street-corner hollering bores me. Out, damned troll!
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 1:17 am

Surely you must find it odd that no matter who’s up and who’s down throughout this whole season that Romney never crosses 30%. If Cain is to advance he has to beat Romney somewhere. He doesn’t have the resources to out organize Perry or Romney and there isn’t enough time to build a “volunteer” organization.
Joe
October 13th, 2011 @ 1:49 am

Callista is #3. Dede Scozzafava is #2.
alwaysfiredup
October 13th, 2011 @ 2:13 am

D’oh. Counting’s not my strong suit, apparently.
alwaysfiredup
October 13th, 2011 @ 2:14 am

And your #1 is an actual good reason, but as I keep hearing, there is no perfect candidate.
Dave
October 13th, 2011 @ 3:37 am

Well, the ‘cuda could give him hers with an endorsement. That’d give him a real bump, and also probably bring a lot of folks who were sitting patiently waiting for her to jump in out to volunteer on the Cain train.

I’m not saying she will, her endorsement is going to be big whenever she offers it and she’s too canny a player to waste it, but timed right it could launch Cain to victory in Iowa, SC and Florida leaving Mittens with only NH and maybe Nevada (haven’t seen the polls there, maybe Palin flips that to Cain too). That would be huge for Cain.

And hey, as long as I’m pie in the skying, what if the quid pro quo for this is the VP slot for Palin? Now, normally I wouldn’t think Palin would be interested at all in VP, but suppose Cain privately said “Sarah, I’m 66 years old and I just beat stage 4 cancer. I feel fine now, but President is an absolute mankiller of a job, I doubt I’ve got more than 4 years in me. I’ll give you carte blanche on energy policy, allow you to campaign as you see fit, and a full term as VP will kill the “Governor Quitter” meme deader than Keynesian economics. When I announce that I’m not seeking a second term you’ll skate into the nomination and then crush Hillary in the general. Whatta you say?” The scenario even holds for 2020 if Cain runs again, assuming he’s successful.

I know, I know. A guy can dream, can’t he?
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 4:04 am

Actually Sarah might hurt Cain being second fiddle on his ticket. I was amazed at how many people I talked to in 08 (mostly youngsters) who believed that McCain was going to drop dead any minute and voted against Palin for president.
jwallin
October 13th, 2011 @ 5:51 am

They may not link but you know they’re secretly checking the site and weighing your words.

It’s difficult being an interwebz political guru martyr but someone’s got to do it . 8)
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 5:53 am

#4 on that list was when I gave up on Newt.

Hmm….questionable claims of catastrophe…I know! Let’s propose a draconian totalitarian overreaction! What could go wrong?
Herman Cain: New Republican Frontrunner?!
October 13th, 2011 @ 7:24 am

[…] An alternative explanation, “Stacy McCain was right,” Strikes me as wildly implausible. Tweet FILED UNDER: Campaign 2012, […]
Quartermaster
October 13th, 2011 @ 8:18 am

It’s starting to look like ’96 all over again. CalMark (below) is just being silly. We should be concerned.
Bob Belvedere
October 13th, 2011 @ 11:49 am

Thank you, Joe! I’ve trying to figure out who Callista reminds me of and you’ve solved it. Bravo!
Richard Mcenroe
October 13th, 2011 @ 2:13 pm

Will Sarah Endorse… and who?

http://tinyurl.com/5uep84y
Tennwriter
October 13th, 2011 @ 4:29 pm

This, sir, is wicked cool.

And this would bring the Base out roaring. I’d probably dance a jig, or at least part of one.
Tennwriter
October 13th, 2011 @ 4:38 pm

Cthulhu would like to remind Adobe Walls that the penalty for supporting anyone else than the Dreadful One, the Sleeper, is immediate and painful removal of one’s tasty skull matter for inhalation in a squamous fashion.

But after ingestion, he/it/they realize your usefulness and have vomited forth most of the cranial matter, and replaced your brain in roughly the same condition they found it, but now animated by his dire but unspeakable and unknowable and incomprehensible purpose.
Anonymous
October 13th, 2011 @ 7:47 pm

Beat’s the hell outta voting for Romney.

PS: You do know that Cthulhu is a myth right?
Muriel Katz
October 14th, 2011 @ 12:14 am

First the liberal media said, “Herman who?”   And they dismissed him.

Then they said, “He hasn’t got a chance because he has no money”.   And they dismissed him.

Then they said, “He’ll never be a threat in the polls because nobody knows of him”.   And they dismissed him.

Then they said, “He can’t compete because he has no political experience”. And they dismissed him.

Then Herman Cain started slowly rising in the polls!

The liberal media then decided to tell all of us that only Romney could eventually win the GOP nomination. He had experience, good looks, money, and the ‘right connections’. And they dismissed Mr. Cain again, feeling smug in their ability to persuade the conservative masses.

Now Mr. Cain is at the top of the polls and the liberal media is scrambling to find fault with him in their attempts to knock him down and keep Romney.

And with every increased attack on Mr. Cain by the liberal media, I become even more sure that I am voting for the right person to become President and to take our country back…Mr. Herman Cain!

While we still have a long ways to go, I am sleeping a bit better lately… 🙂