According to the blogosphere and punditry, Thursday's GOP debate in Orlando seemed to have hurt everyone but Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich. Everybody else seemed to have shot themselves in the foot in one way or another. Poor Rick Santorum. He (and the rest of the candidates plus the entire freaking audience!) can't get any break with the gay soldier question. It's not that he botched it; it was just another opportunity for the leftosphere -- that includes the mainstream media -- to bash him and all Republicans as homophobes. (I even tried to discuss the incident with an uber-liberal lesbian friend of mine. Forget it -- Waste of time!)
But it was Cain who really seemed to benefit both in pundit-pinion and poll-wise.
For instance, Erick Erickson at Red State, in a blog post titled "Herman Cain Won the Debate," wrote even before the debate officially ended:
The winner is Herman Cain. The audience loved him. Other than his question on Israel, Cain’s answers really were out of the park awesome. He provided the most uplifting moments and the most memorable lines, with substance included.
Also, following the debate, Ann Coulter and Dick Morris both tweeted positive things about Cain. Ann said he "crushed" (I'm assuming that's a good thing.)
Finally, Byron York writes this today in today's Washington Examiner:
ORLANDO -- There's no scientific polling, but talks with dozens of delegates who will vote in today's Florida straw poll suggest that many are making last-minute decisions to vote for Herman Cain.
What seems to be happening is this: A lot of delegates came to Orlando planning to vote for Rick Perry. But Perry's poor performance at Thursday night's Fox News-Google debate gave them pause and re-opened the question of whom they will support. And many of the conservatives who were attracted to Perry will, when asked for a second choice, naturally gravitate to Cain, who, it just happens, had a particularly good debate on Thursday. So with Perry not commanding the loyalty he did just 48 hours ago, Cain appears to be picking up support.
It's not an exaggeration to say that everybody likes the Georgia businessman. The question is whether delegates view him as an actual contender for the Republican nomination. At the moment, his support is at 5.6 percent in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, putting him in sixth place in the race, behind Perry, Romney, Paul, Bachmann and Gingrich. Not exactly a juggernaut.
Given that, it is not at unusual at all for delegates here to say, "I love Herman Cain, but I just don't think he can win." And that, to committed Cain supporters, is a source of great frustration. "Because of the people who say they love him but he can't get elected, it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy," says a man named Jimmy from Wilbur-By-The-Sea, Florida. "If they would all just love him and support him and not say, 'Well, can't get elected so I'm going to pick Romney or Perry' -- if they would all just love him and get behind him, he'd be the guy."
Could Cain actually win? It seems unlikely, but it's an outside possibility. Cain's fortunes depend on whether the delegates here decide to vote strategically -- to support the candidate they consider the most likely to win the Republican nomination and go on to general-election victory -- or to vote their principles and let practical matters work themselves out later. If the delegates go the latter route, a lot will choose Herman Cain.
This is all good news for us Cainiacs!
I hear too many people tell me: I love Herman Cain; I just don't think he can win. Well, what if all these people actually support him rather than just talk about liking him but doubting he can win? Then he will have a chance to win the candidacy, won't he!?
UPDATE: Linked from Drudge: Hermain Cain trounced the competition in the Florida straw poll. 37% of the 2,600-member vote! Second place Perry had less than half that at 15%. Way to go, Herm!
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