Herman Cain Wins Florida Straw Poll

oday’s Florida straw poll results are finally in– and whatever it is they mean for the candidates, well, it isn’t entirely clear. The winner by a 22% margin is former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, trailed Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, only divided by one percentage point.

Cain, who gave one of the most well-received speeches at the event and came off a solid performance at Thursday’s Republican debate, received 37% of the vote at the CPACFL conference, with Perry, at 15%, the closest one behind. Romney received 14% of the vote, followed by Rick Santorum at 11%, Rep. Ron Paul at 10%, Newt Gingrich at 8%, Jon Huntsman at 2%, and rounding out the rear Rep. Michele Bachmann at 1%.

Over on Fox News, Carl Cameron declared the results a “clear message” for Perry that his debate performance did not go over so well, and that his supporters were willing to default to Cain and not Romney. For Cain himself, Cameron argued, it was a “huge, huge win” in terms of fundraising and name recognition. The news is also tremendously upsetting for the winner of the Iowa straw poll, Rep. Bachmann, given that she came in behind Huntsman.

For a full appreciation of the results, however, one must take into account that Romney, Bachmann, and New Mexico governor Gary Johnson were not on the ballot, and that Huntsman, Perry, and Paul were not at the event to campaign whatsoever.