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Herman Cain derails front-runners in Florida straw poll

ORLANDO - Georgia businessman Herman Cain scored an upset win in the Florida Republican Party's straw poll Saturday, dealing a setback to national front-runner Rick Perry.

Herman Cain greets those attending the Republican Party gathering in Florida. “The Herman Cain train is picking up steam,” he said. (Joe Burbank / Associated Press, pool)
Herman Cain greets those attending the Republican Party gathering in Florida. “The Herman Cain train is picking up steam,” he said. (Joe Burbank / Associated Press, pool)Read more

ORLANDO - Georgia businessman Herman Cain scored an upset win in the Florida Republican Party's straw poll Saturday, dealing a setback to national front-runner Rick Perry.

The vote is nonbinding, but may signal a rough stretch of road ahead in a tightening race for the GOP nomination. It came after Perry, leading the field in most polls, stumbled in a Thursday debate, dismaying conservatives and changing the minds of some delegates who had planned to back the Texas governor.

Cain received 37 percent of the 2,657 votes cast, more than twice as many as Perry, who made the most concerted effort here and captured 15 percent. He scraped by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who did not compete but finished with 14 percent.

"Folks, this is what you call momentum," Cain, the former chief executive officer of Godfather's Pizza and a tea party favorite, said in a video message to supporters. "The Herman Cain train is picking up steam."

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was fourth with 11 percent, followed by Ron Paul with 10 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 8 percent, and ex-Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman with 2 percent. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who won a prominent straw poll victory in Iowa last month, finished with just under 2 percent.

Interviews with delegates suggested that Perry's defeat hinged on his debate performance, in which he botched several answers and alienated social conservatives by calling "heartless" opponents of his moderate immigration policy.

"Herman Cain was not my first choice when I came here," said Ralph Camp, 64, from Jackson County in Florida's panhandle. "I was for Perry until I heard he subsidized illegal immigrants going to college. That was a stopper for me. Our own kids can't get a break."

Perry had departed for another GOP conference on Mackinac Island, Mich., by the time the vote results were announced, but his campaign had spent money on direct-mail advertising and he worked activists at a series of conferences for two days beforehand.

At a hotel across from the convention center at 7 a.m., Perry served 500 delegates breakfast and recalled how Florida made him governor in 2000 when its electoral votes were awarded to George W. Bush after a recount.

"Here we are 11 years later and I've got all my hopes on Florida again," Perry said.

Cain, an electrifying speaker, has been campaigning on his "9-9-9" plan, which would establish a flat personal income tax, corporate tax, and sales tax of 9 percent each. He has been languishing near the bottom of the pack in most polls, but he spent time wooing delegates, many of whom gushed about his charisma.

"We could sense as early as yesterday that people were moving toward him, when his hospitality room was too small for the crowd," said Jackson County delegate Bert Benoit, 78, a self-described "old southern boy" from Louisiana. "What does this tell you about Florida? We're going with Cain because we want real serious change."

The result seemed certain to fuel speculation that New Jersey Gov. Christie is reconsidering his stated decision not to run for president, as Republican fund-raisers and establishment leaders continue to press him to enter as an alternative to Romney. People close to Christie say he has not changed his mind.

Perry called the New Jersey governor a "great competitor" in an interview with the Associated Press. "Anybody that gets in the race that believes in America and is a small-government-but-efficient-government individual, I would welcome," Perry said.

In the three Florida GOP straw polls before Saturday's - in 1979, 1987, and 1995 - the eventual nominee won all of them. The party also gathered in 2000 and 2008 but did not hold mock elections.

Florida is scheduled to pick its primary date this week, but the state's Republican leaders say they believe it could become the decisive nominating contest, based on a possible split verdict in the first four states. Romney is favored in Nevada and New Hampshire, and Perry is the early favorite in Iowa and South Carolina.

In 2008, Florida effectively shut down the GOP race when John McCain defeated Romney in the state's primary.

"At nearly 19 million people, the population of Florida is larger than all the earlier primary and caucus states combined," Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, said to the delegates. "With our incredibly diverse state, Florida is a true microcosm of America. I'm convinced that the Republican candidate who wins Florida will be our nominee for president."

Perry volunteer Jason Montes said that he did not think the vote would be a grievous blow to the Texas governor's candidacy. "The problem is his presentation, not his substance," said Montes, 42, a Tampa lawyer. "I still think Gov. Perry is the only one who can galvanize both wings of the party, the paleoconservatives and the moderates."

The Texas governor entered the race a little more than five weeks ago and quickly shot to the top of the polls. After three shaky debates, some party activists and even supporters have begun to question whether he can build on that, and the loss in Saturday's straw poll seemed unlikely to quiet those concerns.

In a statement, Perry congratulated Cain, said that the "conservative message" won the day, and referred to Romney's reputation as a flip-flopper on issues: "Floridians and voters nationally want a candidate who is clear on the issues and talks honestly about the future, not someone who takes multiple sides of an issue and changes views every election season."

Earlier, Santorum noted that he had won his Senate seat by defeating a Democratic incumbent in 1994, though he neglected to mention his 2006 loss to now-Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.). GOP voters need to pick someone "who can win the election, someone who is a consistent conservative . . . and has proven they can win in the places we need to win," he said.

Gingrich drew cheers from the delegates when he suggested he would choose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as his running mate if he were nominated. He also promised to challenge President Obama to seven Lincoln-Douglas-style debates, each three hours long, with no moderator.

Huntsman, Romney, Paul, and Perry did not address the delegates before the vote. All but Romney sent surrogates.