Herman Cain Upsets Gov. Rick Perry to Win Florida GOP Straw Poll
Businessman Herman Cain won the Florida straw poll Saturday, beating Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the GOP presidential front-runner who just two days earlier delivered a debate performance that was widely panned.
Cain finished with 37 percent of the vote, while Perry trailed with 15 percent. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney followed with 14 percent while former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum drew 11 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul finished with 10.5 percent, former Speaker Newt Gingrich finished with 8.5 percent, while former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman finished with 2 percent.
U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who won the Iowa straw poll in August, finished with just 1 percent of the vote.
“Thank you to the Republican voters for this incredible honor of being named the winner of the Presidency 5 straw poll in Florida today,” Cain said in a statement after the results were in.
Full Story Here:
Herman Cain Upsets Gov. Rick Perry To Win Florida GOP Straw Poll
For the last 2 days this has been the BIG story in American politics, Herman Cain won a *straw poll*.
Does any of this remain in your personal memory bank?
Ron Paul wins California straw poll, or how about this, Ron Paul wins RLC straw poll and this, Ron Paul Wins Online Straw Poll, does that mean anything to you?
It should.
Don’t think I’ve lost my mind or become a Paultard, I have not, but Ron Paul is a great example of what a *straw poll* is good for…absolutely nothing.
Dr. Ron Paul has WON several *straw polls*, does that mean he’s going to win the GOP nomination? It does not; it means that he had more *Paultards* attending the actual polls that he won, and the online poll, well, that’s an easy win for Paul, his followers didn’t even have to leave Mom’s basement or wash the Cheetos off of their grubby little hands.
I like Herman Cain, I really do. I am not supporting him at this point in time, but that could change, we have a LONG time until we vote in the primaries. I do know this, if Cain were to win the GOP nomination I would support him with no reservations of ANY kind.
I have a very good friend that is one of the most astute political bloggers on the ‘net today, Bloviating Zeppelin, and make NO mistake about it, this is a guy that has a lot on the ball. We don’t always agree on ALL matters, social, financial or political, but regardless, we still respect each other.
I made a comment on BZ’s post HERE:
If Cain were the nominee would it be racist to NOT vote for a REAL Black man as opposed to the supposed racism the Dems accused the GOP of for not voting for a HALF Black man??
I’d vote for Herman Cain and not have to hold my nose in doing so, not because of pigmentation, but because he IS better than Obama…
Michele Bachmann is a waste of time, as are Newt and Huntsman, BUT, Newt needs to be on someones Cabinet, he has great ideas…
Perry and Mittens are destroying each other and NOT going after the real enemy, Obama…
The Florida Poll people must not have had *munchies*, the Paultards didn’t *Win one for the Moonbat*…
I meant every word OF that comment too.
Is Bachmann OUT? I don’t know, but she needs to be, she has shown herself to be foolish and in MY opinion, lacks the forceful, dynamic personality that is needed to be an effective leader and to lead this nation.
Perry and Mittens? I’m still a Perry supporter. He’s NOT a great debater, but the last time I checked, you don’t have to be a great debater to be a great leader. Do I have issues with Perry? Of course I do, but those issues are not a game changer for me at this time.
If I were to become POTUS, I would want Newt Gingrich on MY Cabinet, the man is very good in many areas, and he might make a decent POTUS, but there is something lacking in my opinion, something that makes me think Newt is a great adviser but not so much a great leader.
There is some serious delusion among many on the RIGHT; Weasel Zippers posted a poll HERE and they asked a very simple question: Who’s Your Choice For GOP Nominee? and went on to list the GOP candidates that are running, the ones that are actually IN THE RACE. They have 106 comments on that poll question at last check and somewhere close to HALF of the written comments say PALIN. Yeah, Sarah Palin. Is she a candidate? Is she listed on that poll and I somehow missed it? 
TexasFred says:
September 24, 2011 at 1:04 am
Comments are inundated with PALIN… You folks DO realize?? She’s NOT in the running… Right??
I had several tell me, SHE IS RUNNING, she just hasn’t announced yet. I was told that I am not paying attention, that if I knew ANYTHING about Sarah Palin I would know, she IS running and will announce soon…a very vague term at best that word soon. 
I may not be the most knowledgeable political blogger on the ‘net but I know this, IF Sarah Palin isn’t in it right now it’s because she’s AFRAID to debate, or whatever that stuff is that the candidates are doing. It doesn’t look like a debate to me, but some think it is, but I digress. Palin is afraid that she will come out looking like a silly, shrill FOOL if she has to go up against people like Perry, Cain, Newt and Romney.
I told people in 2008 that if McCain/Palin was the GOP ticket, Barack Obama would be the winner, and he was. It wasn’t because people didn’t vote for McCain, ALL 3rd party, or, as some call it, non-mainstream candidates votes combined, if given to McCain, made not one bit of difference, Obama still won, by a handy margin.
Many in America HATE Barack Hussein Obama, I am one of them, but many hate Sarah Palin as well. I don’t HATE Palin but I have no faith in her, I don’t believe she would be any better than Obama, and in some areas may actually be worse. I hope and pray that she doesn’t jump in, late or otherwise.
I also know that Palin’s fans will say I have fallen for the media hype about Palin, nothing could be further from the truth, I don’t buy media hype on ANY candidate. I listen to the candidates speak, I read what they write and I make my decisions based solely on that information. It seems that Palinites are as rabid as the Paultards in many cases. If, for some reason, you don’t like Palin, you’re a media slug or a plant from the DNC, dead set on keeping Palin out of office. It’s just not acceptable to dislike Palin. To the Palinites…
If Romney is the GOP nominee I will be forced to support him, even though I feel he is just another version of Obama; Obama Lite. I won’t like it, but I will have NO choice, Obama has got to go.
Is Rick Perry the perfect candidate? Probably not, but I would back him 100% if he were to win the nomination, as I would back Herman Cain, Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich. I am of the opinion that even Romney would be better than Obama, but not by much, and if we settle for the lesser of the evils again, what we get is STILL evil. Think Romneycare…
We don’t need histrionic Drama Queens (Palin and Bachmann) and we don’t need RINOs, I refer to Romney, Huntsman and Gary WHO?
America, our very survival as a FREE NATION is at stake, of the announced candidates at this time, I have to say, in MY opinion, Herman Cain or Rick Perry would have the best chance of beating Obama and would stand head and shoulders above Obama when it comes to honesty and integrity.
It’s time for the GOP to get serious, kick Bachmann, Paul, Huntsman and Johnson (Gary WHO?) to the curb, give REAL contenders a chance, look very hard at Perry and Romney, and if they can’t stop their infighting and take on the REAL enemy, dump em BOTH.
If Cain and/or Santorum are the best, then they are the best, make a decision and let’s go to WAR against the Dems and their leader, Obama. It’s time to take America back!
Well done, Fred. I am glad I am not the only one who isn’t so enamored with Sarah Palin as to be completely blind.
As for the debates not really being debates? I couldn’t agree more. They are arguing at each other over differences in policy and opinion, instead of going after the real enemy (can I still say that?) of our country, Barack Obama. That’s one reason I like to see Newt Gingrich on the stage, even though I don’t want him to win the nomination. He keeps pointing everyone back to that little fact.
Now, to the straw poll that Herman Cain won in Florida. No disrespect to Mr. Cain, but I am not sure how much that really means. A straw poll does not a President make. Just like having a lot of Facebook friends doesn’t make a President.
I just wish everyone felt this way… Straw polls don’t mean SQUAT, they are a *feel good* effort at best… But, as you say, nothing against Cain, I kinda like the guy…
Enamoured with Palin? Yeah, that’s a very *nice* way to say it… Some folks seem to think she’s the Second Coming of Joan of Arc, she’s not, she’s a shrill Drama Queen and the ease with which some folks can be influenced by a pretty face and a *by golly you betcha doggoneit* simply amazes me…
Palin was the best Alaska had to offer, and that isn’t a hard feat to accomplish, there’s more polar bears than people up there, and her rise to Alaska Governor, while a political victory, was marred by scandal and the fact that she QUIT halfway through her 1st term…
She QUIT folks, there’s NO WAY you can spin it and use that “Oh but she was only trying to save Alaska money in her defense..” That is pure BULLSHIT, if you’re right you FIGHT to prove it, had Palin FOUGHT, had she not aligned herself with the biggest RINO in GOP history, John McCain, I might feel differently…
If a frog had wings…
She QUIT folks, there’s NO WAY you can spin it and use that “Oh but she was only trying to save Alaska money in her defense..” That is pure BULLSHIT, if you’re right you FIGHT to prove it, had Palin FOUGHT, had she not aligned herself with the biggest RINO in GOP history, I might feel differently…
I’m glad that I’m not the only person who feels this way. If Palin thought it was bad after 2008, think of what it would be like if she won the Presidency and the number of lawsuits would be 100 times. Would she quit then? Yes of course.
Try telling that to the Palin supporters. She is their Goddess, their saint. They are as bad as Paul’s little brown shirters.
Palin couldn’t *take the heat* of being Alaska’s Governor, the pressure of being the POTUS would kill her…
BUT…on the bright side, if she had a spectacular VP…
That sounds as STOOPID as all the bullshit posts we saw in 2008 saying, I’m not voting for McCain, I’m voting for Palin… And THAT was some STOOPID bullshit!
I like Herman Cain. He speaks common sense, he has a no nonsense attitude, and he actually knows what runs an economy.
Herman Cain will split the Black vote. Can you just imagine the debate between Obama and Cain? Can you imagine all those Black commentators on the News shows trying to fling dirt at Cain and how it backfires against them?
Herman Cain is a candidate I can vote FOR, not the lessor of 2 evils.
BINGO, I can vote FOR Cain too!!
Great way to put it Katie…
I’m going to call the kettle black, because everybody is “tiptoeing” around it.
ONCE BLACK you will always “be” black.
And that is what Herman Cain is. He will always vote black over anything white, if he is forced to.
Don’t ever, ever, ever forget this.
Not a bit of *tiptoeing* in MY post, did you miss this”
Mr. Chuck, not everyone is a racist, not everyone sees evil just because of skin tone… You may be right, Cain may vote Black over white, and if he does I wouldn’t hesitate to call him on it, but so far, there’s not enough known about him and his deeply ingrained feelings to make that statement is there??
Many accuse ME of being a racist, those folks don’t KNOW me, I have NOTHING against ANYONE because of their color, I hate niggers, but so do decent Black folks, and I DO know the difference…
I know many decent, hard working and Conservative Black people, and some of them DO know me, 1st hand, in REAL life, and none of them will tell you that I’m a racist, they will tell you that I will call a spade a spade, and sometimes I call it a damned shovel, but I don’t hate someone for their color…
You may be correct, only time will tell, but I am not going to go against Herman Cain because he happens to be a Black man…
What does winning the Florida straw poll mean in the long run? Herman Cain can ask Michele Bachmann about that; she won the Iowa straw poll and it hasn’t done much for her, has it? But it does show us that maybe the voters are upset with politics as usual and are looking for something different.
I know that you are supporting Perry, and I wanted to as well but I just can’t get past his defense of the Texas DREAM Act and his statement that if you oppose it you are heartless. Would he be a better president than Obama? Yes he would and if he wins the nomination I would support him. If I had to make a choice right now I would vote for Rick Santorum.
Also: I agree with you on Newt, he needs to be in the administration of the next president and I have heard it said that he is really running for secretary of state.
This early in the game it’s each to his own, we have to rally around the nominee, even if it’s Romney, and that is almost unacceptable to me, I fear that Romney is nothing more than Obama Lite..
Why is is that every time someone says, “I know you’re supporting Perry…BUT…” I get the feeling I was just cursed to hell and back on the other side of the screen??
Sorry, Steve Dennis, but Santorum was off my list a long time ago. He comes off as an angry little person throwing a snit fit because he thinks he is being ignored. He bashes Perry for Perry’s position on the border, but it almost directly mirrors Santorum’s own bill (S. 3564) for border security; fences in strategic locations only, more boots on the ground. Odd, isn’t it, that in not one of the debates, Santorum mentions his own piece of legislation? Guess you can’t beat up on someone (Perry) when their policy mirrored the same stance you took just a few years ago.
Cain is a good man, but one poll doesn’t a president make. While Cain did wonders pulling failing businesses out of the fire and making them profitable, there is a huge difference between running a company and running a country. When you are CEO, you can fire anyone that is not on track with you. You can’t fire other elected officals just because they are not on board with your goals. We already have a president who wasn’t capable of handling the office and is basically doing on-job training, we don’t need another. I would prefer Cain had some experience in goverment, even if it was just on a city council.
Bachmann is a shrew. End of story. (I could provide why, if you’re interested)
Huntsman, where the hell is he from again? Gary Who? Nuf’ said. Newt, brilliant mind, but has a tendancy to wander off the farm now and then without seeming knowing where he is going.
Paul? He’s a lunatic. Needs to be put on heavy doses of Aracept.
Now we get to Romney. Romney was my pick over McCain in the 2008 race. So I did a lot of research on him. Basically, Romney governed as a liberal. He only seemed to find his conservative creds when he was trying to run to the right of McCain (which I admit, was not hard to do). But when Romney was governor of Massachussets, and had an opportunity to move his state into the red column, he didn’t do it. He had the opportunity to nominate judges, but when he did, he chose 14 Democrats (which included two gay lawyers who supported same-sex marriage) and 7 Republicans. Cato Institute did a Fiscal Report Card in 2006, three years into Romney’s governorship. Matt Blunt (R-Mo) was #1, Rick Perry (R-Tx) #2 and Mitt Romney was #12, lagging behind Democrats Phil Bresden (TN); John Lynch (NH); Bill Richardson (NM) and Tom Vilsack (IA).
Romney claims he didn’t raise taxes. Ah, but he did in stealth ways. Like increasing the cost of licence plates, licence fees for businesses and other “fees” that he claimed he had the power to increase. Odd how Romney now runs from his record as governor and wants to campaign on his business acumen only. What was his business? Hostile takeovers of companies in trouble. He’s a snake. And then there’s Romneycare. And while Romney claims that he had the right to dump that monster on the citizens of Massachussets due to the 10th Amendment, he beats up on Perry for what our legislature did under the 10th Amendment.
Personally, I think the last debate, with everyone jumping on Perry over in-state tuition for the children of illegals cost the GOP dearly. With Hispanics representing 16% of our nation, and having 21.3 million voters, they are not going to rally around anything they perceive as anti-immigrant. Oh, I know, the argument is pro-law, but that is not the way Hispanics are going to perceive it. They are going to take the debate as an attack on ALL of them, illegal or legal. And you can bet that Obama will show up in every barrio in every major city telling voters how the Republicans hate immigrants. The word IL-legal will never cross Obama’s lips, it will be “immigrants.”
Hispanics voted for the Republican by 30% in 2008. By 2010, that percentage had gone up to 38%. With the addition of Congressmen like Bill Flores and Francisco Canseco, we had a real shot at garnering well over 40% in 2012. Romney-Santorum-Bachmann just dashed those hopes. History has proven, with the Irish, the Italians, that if there is any indication of bias against an ethic group, no matter how rightous or legal, they will flock to the Democrats in droves.
So who does that leave for me? Perry. And while he lacks debate skills, so what? Is that what the conservative voter wants? Someone who can talk the talk but has never walked the walk? Isn’t that what we already have that is not working out very well? We have no state income tax, although the Texas Dems tried their best to push it through. We are not over regulated so business have a fighting chance. Our home costs are the most reasonable in the nation due to the lack of restrictions and common sense development. 5,000 people a month are flocking to Texas, and yet our unemployment rate is lower than the national average.
Instead of beating up on Rick Perry, perhaps those other nitwits in that debate should have been trying to figure out how to make their state more like Texas.
BINGO!
I’ve liked Herman Cain for quite a while. Like retire05 says, I do wish he had more experience in government but then, that’s where leadership comes in. A good and successful leader always surrounds himself with the best and brightest people he can find; all experts in their respective fields. As a success in business, Cain knows this and I believe this will be his policy. Obama surrounded himself with Chicago politicians, cronies, and those in academia with no practical experience…he went to the bottom of the barrel.
I was on the Sarah Palin bandwagon but when she resigned as Governor of Alaska, I went off the wagon. You don’t quit on the people who elected you because some turned up the heat.
Romney is a politician and panders to the crowd he’s before. In 1994, he threw Conservative principals under the bus in trying to unseat Teddy Kennedy.
I do like Rick Perry. I understand his point of educating the children of illegals. You can either educate them in hopes of them becoming taxpayers and productive citizens or you can forget about them and they’ll join up with MS-13 and various other Hispanic gangs.
Last week a former co-worker, Trad, stopped by to tell us he’s moving to Texas, in the Houston area. I asked him why and he said that there were more and better job opportunities with better pay in Texas. Another co-worker mention to him that he’ll be moving to the state of our next president. Trad got this funny look on his face and I said, “what, don’t you like Rick Perry”. He said “no, I don’t think he knows what he’s doing”. I then responded with: “the reason you said you’re moving to Texas is completely opposite with your opinion of Perry; the reason Texas has all those opportunities you speak of is because of Rick Perry and also George Bush before him”…he didn’t like Bush either. He just looked at me like a calf looking at a new gate; didn’t know what to say
BobF, the CEO of a company has the option to surround him/herself with the best and the brightest. The next president will still have to put up with Barney Frank, Sheila Jackson Lee, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, and all the other idiots that are not going anywhere, at least not any time soon. Only the voters can fire them, and that ain’t gonna happen in districts where people are more worried about how they can get more taxpayer largess for themselves and not what is good for the nation.
What bothers me the most about the “illegal” argument is that it is soley directed toward Hispanics because of Mexico. No one talks about the 1,300,000 illegals that are Asian (Pew study, 2009) or the 190,000 from the Middle East. And they also don’t talk about the fact that of the Mexicans who are here illegally, 77% of their children were born in the U.S., making them eligible for in-state tuition.
Sarah Palin has been off my radar for a long time, but in the last few months I have learned even more about her that I don’t like. Choosing a lobbyist as a running mate, hooking up with a high dollar tort lawyer (Greta Van Sustern’s husband) to create SarahPac and organize her bus tours., dumping on Christine O’Donnell (who is probably a flake, but has been dumped on enough), making snide remarks about the governor’s office in Texas being a weak position (indicating that Perry was not really a leader) while she quit her job half way through (she did try to walk it back later but that horse had already left the barn). And please, don’t give me the crap about all her legal bills. She could have written her book as governor, using that money for the same thing she did after she resigned, to pay off her legal debts. When you ask her fans about these things, and what she has really done in the last two and a half years beside give speeches throwing red meat to the wolves, they get ballistic.
Palin had (no longer) the ability to move legislation in the direction that the American people want it to go. Do you think if she had shown up in D.C., pushing the Senate to pass the Balanced Budget Amendment, Harry Reid would have risk not seeing her? Do you think that if she had given a presser on the steps of the Capitol, it would not have been televised all across this nation? Believe me, she is taking all this fame (now dwindling in spite of what her groupies say) to the bank. Who is paying for her bus, her public appearances, etc? Even though Obama sold more books than she has, he only reaped about $ 5 mil from them. Having owned a number of RVs, I can tell you her motorhome is worth around $1 million.
She can’t win, but she can act as a spoiler (think Ross Perot) in the next election.
No president can control who gets elected to Congress but they have control on choosing their cabinet secretaries, chef of staff, and advisers. It’s those advisers who shape a presidents policies. No one person can run the country and therefore they rely on advisers. Obama has been a failure in choosing his advisers. Even James Carville is telling him he needs to fire some of his advisers.
During the Florida debate, Fox had an online poll that asked what needs to be done about Immigration. Nowhere in the question did they put the word “illegal”. I’m all for immigration and immigrants but not for illegal immigration or illegal immigrants.
I could vote FOR Herman Cain. What I see in him was a man, who happens to be black, who actively wanted to get involved in society, who wanted to become educated, who wanted to get involved with a succeed in that evil word CAPITALISM.
If Palin ain’t in now she ain’t gettin’ in. And when the heat got turned on — and not that hot, I might add — she bailed. Past action is the best predictor of future performance. That’s called common sense.
That said, the straw poll in and of itself is almost meaningless. But it does provide insight into what a few people are thinking at the time they’re thinking it. I found the most insight into the placement of Romney and Bachmann in the poll. Romney has the cash and the name recognition, plain and simple. He also has mucho baggage.
BZ
I’m disappointed with Perry’s performances in the debates. You don’t have to be a smooth or eloquent debater but he was off the chart bad. I have to wonder how he would perform as a president in any high pressure situation. Of the remaining candidates, I could only be enthusiastic about Cain. In the end, I will support the party’s choice. I agree that Gingrich should be in the next administration and I think that is the only reason he is running. Despite my differences with Ron Paul, I do think he should be looked at for Treasury Secretary. He is the only candidate that understands the danger of the Fed.
We all have our opinions… Just so you know, in MY opinion, Ron Paul needs to be locked in a padded room and fed a bowl of gruel every other day…
Anyone so damned stupid as to say they would have Dennis Kucinich on their Cabinet if elected is a total MORON…
My opinion remains: anybody that wants to be president probably shouldn’t be allowed to hold office. Nonetheless, we have to vote for someone-unfortunately. My pick would be General Schwartzkopf, but he’s not running and George Patton’s dead. I’ll reserve my ABO pick (Anybody But Obama) until next year.
I have plenty to say about the candidates, but right now I’m just damn glad to be back in the great Texas Republic. Enjoying breathing the free air and feeling the very strength of rugged individualism. God Bless Texas