I’m always skeptical of Frank Luntz’s televised focus groups, but he obviously got it right last night (inasmuch as his results confirmed my predictions).
As you may recall, prior to the debate I wrote that Herman Cain is,
clearly the best orator in the bunch. And the fact that he will be competing for attention with just four other candidates means he will gain a tremendous amount of exposure in this nationally-televised debate.
Watch the Luntz clip here:
Truthfully, I think Cain performed well, but I’ve seen him perform even better.
Still, he finished strong and might have had the line of the night when he responded to a question about his lack of political experience by noting our problems were created by politicians in Washington: “How’s that working out for you?” — he asked.
Cain benefited, of course, by having other candidates like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich decide to sit out the debate. But given the chance to shine, don’t be surprised to see Cain catch fire the way Mike Huckabee used early debate performances in 2008 to catapult himself into the top-tier.