Aside from relative lack of finances, the biggest factor hurting Herman Cain has been low name recognition. But those who were familiar with Cain liked him a lot. Many of the Beltway pundits -- mostly on the GOP side! -- were calling him a long shot with no chance in hell (Hey, didn't they say that about a certain Barack Hussein Obama Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm?).
Indeed, in the two weeks prior to announcing his candidacy on May 21, Gallup had him with a paltry 33% recognition rate. But he also enjoyed the highest "Positive Intensity" score of all presumed GOP '12 candidates (27)
I kept thinking that as more and more Americans (particularly likely Republican voters) get to know Herman Cain, they're going to love him as much as I do. And I was right: By May 29, Cain's name recognition rate rose to 37% and his P.I. score remained the highest at 25.
Note that by this point Newt Gingrich had thrown his hat into the ring, and suffered a P.I. score loss, from 11 to 6.
Today Gallup is out with its latest data, and once again, as Herman Cain's name recognition increases, so does his P.I. score remain at 25:
Now Gingrich is down to a P.I. score of 4. This data reflects recently-declared Romney and Santorum, both of whom have much lower scores.
Like I said, to know him is to love him!
To the mainstream media's credit, they have taken note (perhaps begrudgingly) of Cain, and are doing surprisingly neutral stories about him. Sunday's New York Times had a piece called "A G.O.P. Hopeful Gathers Momentum as More Voters Like What They Hear" (written by Kate Zernike, whose reporting and recent book perpetuates the "Tea Party = racist" smear).
A week earlier, the Washington Post published in its Lifestyle section (?) "Just who is Herman Cain? And what does his presidential run mean for the GOP?"
Cain's has been busy making TV appearances as well. According to his social network page he is slated to appear tonight on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, and later this week with O'Reilly and Beck.
Go Herm!
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