Say again? Herman Cain got more than twice as many votes as any other candidate in last week’s Florida straw poll? What on earth does that mean?
Cain, retired Godfather’s Pizza executive, has been in single digit territory in the race for the Republican nomination. Last week he won the Florida straw poll, which followed a debate there, with 37 percent of the vote. Rick Perry came in second with a miserable 15 percent. Mitt Romney who had not entered the straw poll, was third with 14 percent. Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Michele Bachmann followed in that order with less than 10 percent of the vote each.
There were only 2,657 votes cast. Maybe there are enough Godfather fans in Florida to explain the outcome. Still, serious Republicans should be nervous. Perry went to Florida ahead of the field. Romney has always been first or second — up till now. Cain lapped both of them. And there hasn’t been a national poll yet that gave him a chance at the prize.
What Florida means is that there really isn’t a leader in the race and there are oodles of Republicans who aren’t sold on any of the eight.
That only 2,657 bothered to vote in a state with over 18 million population (fourth largest in the country) sends a bunch of messages to Republicans, Democrats and independents alike. Chief among them is that politics as usual will be the wrong way to go in 2012.
— Emerson Lynn, jr
