海角大神

He鈥檚 been called the GOP flavor of the week (in response to which he tells reporters to call him 鈥�Haagen-Dazs Black Walnut鈥� because 鈥渋t tastes good all the time鈥�).

But Herman Cain鈥檚 meteoric rise shows no sign of slowing down. According to, Cain now leads the Republican field with 27 percent support, followed by Mitt Romney at 23 percent, and Rick Perry at 16 percent.

The poll found Cain was viewed positively by 52 percent of Republican voters and negatively by an incredibly low 6 percent. Among Tea Party supporters, his positive/negative rating was 69 percent to 5 percent. In follow-up interviews, voters said they liked Cain鈥檚 direct manner and the fact that he鈥檚 not a politician.

Cain鈥檚 ultra-low negative ratings almost certainly reflect the fact that most voters still don鈥檛 know much about him. His rise has happened so quickly (back in August, he was at just 5 percent support) that the klieg lights haven鈥檛 really been on him. As a point of comparison: Michele Bachmann鈥檚 negative rating among Republican voters stood at 8 percent back in April; today, it鈥檚 at 27.

So are the days of Cain skating by without scrutiny coming to an end?

Well, maybe. At Tuesday night鈥檚 debate, it seemed like nearly every candidate lobbed a grenade at Cain鈥檚 at one point or another. (Most biting attack of the night: Rick Santorum, asking the audience, 鈥渉ow many people here want to pay a sales tax in New Hampshire? There you go, Herman. That鈥檚 how many votes you鈥檒l get in New Hampshire.鈥�)

On the other hand, Decoder has been amazed at how much Cain is still getting away with. At that same debate, Cain credited his economic plan to unnamed 鈥渟ecret鈥� advisors, and said that he had already lined up potential appointees to the Federal Reserve, whom he also couldn鈥檛 name. Um - seriously? Does anyone think that if Romney or Perry had said anything remotely like that that the press (or other candidates) would have let it slide?

While Perry has been for his refusal to publicly condemn remarks by pastor Robert Jeffress calling Mormonism a cult (made while introducing Perry at the 海角大神 Voters Summit), and for a plaque on a family hunting camp that had a , Cain has essentially gone unchallenged over a whole host of controversial statements on the very same issues of race and religion.

These include:

• Accusing and of questioning why he, as a black man, would choose a conservative political ideology.
• Saying into supporting Democrats.
• Saying he would in his administration.
• And making weird, infiltrating the US legal system.

Why is Cain not coming under serious fire for any of this? One theory: His opponents - and the media - still don鈥檛 take him all that seriously, because no one really thinks he will win the GOP nomination. If he continues to lead in polls going forward, this may change, but even now, Cain鈥檚 schedule and barely touching down in early primary states.

Romney in particular has a motive for keeping Cain around - since Cain, as a Tea Party favorite, clearly takes more votes away from Perry than Romney.

And even for Perry, attacking Cain is risky. Going directly after a highly popular black Republican could drive up Perry鈥檚 negatives (and of course, Perry鈥檚 already having to deal with racial sensitivity issues). And ironically, despite the current poll numbers, it could come across as Perry punching down (or looking desperate), since Perry still has the more realistic path to the nomination.

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