When Herman Cain first announced in January that he was considering a bid for the White House, much of the public was less than enraptured.
But Saturday the former business executive and Atlanta-based radio talk show host is expected to officially join the 2012 Republican presidential race following weeks of high-profile gains against better-known candidates.
In short, the Cain campaign is threatening to overshadow the bid of the other candidate with Georgia ties, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose 2-week-old campaign has experienced crushing missteps and bad press.
Cain's boost since a GOP debate in South Carolina earlier this month has been gratifying, said Ellen Carmichael, a spokeswoman for the campaign, but the Cain team was already optimistic.
"It increases people's confidence in his credibility and his legitimacy," she said, "but we already thought we had some."
Cain was too busy for an interview, Carmichael said, but he'll have plenty to say when he takes the stage shortly after noon at a rally at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Carmichael said CNN, Fox and C-SPAN will broadcast his remarks live.
And while Saturday is expected to make his campaign official, Cain has been running in all but name since January. This week, for example, he made his 16th and 17th trips to Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation caucus vote in January. He was also back in South Carolina and Florida this week.
The former Godfather's Pizza CEO has been laying the groundwork for a national campaign, although Cunningham said Cain is looking at it a little differently.
"If he were to run, it's 50 statewide elections," she said. "It's not a national election. He's gone where other people don't go. He speaks to groups other people don't speak to."
And there are signs of momentum for Cain: A Zogby Interactive poll released last week showed him at 14 percent, in second place among GOP voters and 3 percentage points behind New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has consistently said he will not run for president. (Gingrich drew 7 percent in the poll, taken before he officially entered the race.)
But political analysts say that despite Cain's recent bump, it won't be enough.
"Herman Cain will not be the Republican nominee. Even Herman Cain knows that," said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.
The reason? "He's no Dwight D. Eisenhower," Sabato said. "You have to have been elected to something first, unless you were the Allied supreme commander in World War II."
Eisenhower had never held elected office before becoming president. That's unlikely to happen again, Sabato said.
"Do you want someone, anyone, from either party, starting with the presidency as their first public office?" he said. "That's unwise. There are exceptions -- like Dwight Eisenhower. Being CEO of Godfather's Pizza is not the equivalent of being supreme Allied commander in World War II."
Emory University's Alan Abramowitz shares many of the same thoughts.
"I don't think he has any chance of winning the Republican nomination," he said.
But Abramowitz at least sees room for Cain to make some noise. With former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee deciding not to run again, the implosion of Donald Trump's campaign and Gingrich's poor start, "it does open an opportunity for candidates like Cain who are trying to appeal to the tea party, social-conservative wing of the party, which is a very large wing."
The problem, he said, is that Cain's fast start will lead to closer scrutiny and tougher questions.
"My guess is with his lack of political experience, he may not do so well," Abramowitz said.
Some of those tougher questions will likely focus on his support in 2008 for then-President George W. Bush's plan to stave off the collapse of the country's banking system through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Many conservatives called it a bailout and an affront to free-market principles, but Cain said it made sense. Now, however, he says he no longer supports the program -- but some critics see that as a flip-flop designed to provide cover with conservative primary voters.
But don't tell Cain's supporters he can't win. In fact, Dana Carter of Woodstock is not surprised to hear experts doubt Cain's viability.
"Some in the media say Herman Cain cannot get elected," Carter said. "I say bull feathers to that! If anyone would take 10 minutes from their day to listen to his common-sense ideas that have worked during his career in corporate America, they would realize that he is exactly what we need in a leader."
Cain, before helping turn the Godfather's chain around, helped boost profits at a string of Burger Kings in the Philadelphia area. And, incidentally, there are 116 Godfather's franchises in Iowa alone.
That business experience -- and success -- more than makes him qualified to be president, said Samantha Clay of Atlanta.
"Herman Cain is the epitome of what a president should be," Clay said. "He's a proven leader. He has been successful at everything he has done. Words like ‘hope' and ‘change' mean little without a plan and a track record of proven results."
Besides, said J. Kyle Tilley of Dallas, experienced politicians haven't exactly done a bang-up job.
"Career politicians have proven time and time again they cannot pass legislation for the people without diluting it so much that the original intent is unrecognizable," Tilley said.
Lisa McDonough of Marietta said she is drawn to Cain's "humility, his straightforwardness and his integrity." Plus, with the country in the midst of an economic crisis, who better than a businessman who has helped stave off bankruptcy?
"We need a CEO in the White House," she said.
Kash Johnson of Carrollton, like many, first heard of Cain by listening to his radio show.
"The more I heard from him, the more I found that I respected him and his approach to people," Johnson said. "He didn't yell and scream to get his point across, nor did he beat everyone over the head with his opinions. It was a refreshing approach from talk radio, and I was hooked from that point forward."
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