EYES ON CAIN

Even Democrats tune out Barack Hussein Obama now.

*Three years ago, whites under age 30 preferred Democrats by 7 percentage points.  Now they favor Republicans by 11, according to a Pew poll in July.

*Mr. Obama got two thirds of the Hispanic vote in 2008, but only 48 percent of Hispanics approve of the job he’s doing now, according to a Gallup poll Sept. 7.

*Only 58 percent of blacks — down from 83 percent in April — have a "strongly positive" view of the president, according to a Washington Post poll Sept. 21.

*Jews gave Mr. Obama 78 percent of their votes in 2008.  Now more (48 percent) disapprove of the job he’s doing than approve (45 percent), according to an American Jewish Committee poll Sept. 26.

With independents, Mr. Obama is more deeply underwater than the Titanic.  So it isn’t surprising he lost to "generic Republican" by 4 percentage points in an NBC poll in August; by 5 in a Rasmussen poll in September.

Alas for the GOP, "generic Republican" isn’t running.  Neither are those whom conservative pundits think best qualified to lead the nation.  Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol did all but send flowers and candy to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels; then to Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan, and finally to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — only to have all three spurn his advances.

Some see evidence of dissatisfaction with the GOP field in the stunning results of a straw poll in Orlando Sept. 24.  Businessman Herman Cain (37 percent) crushed Texas Gov. Rick Perry (15 percent) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (14 percent).

The poll was taken two days after Gov. Perry bombed in the presidential debate in Orlando.  He "looked and sounded ill-prepared, uncertain, dull, vacuous, and embarrassingly out of his depth," wrote columnist Michael Medved.

What was important about the Florida straw poll was not who won but who lost, said John Hendren of ABC News.  It was a protest vote, said Ann Curry of NBC.  Mr. Cain’s victory could portend the end of straw polls, because he has no chance to win, said Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post.

Pundits think Mr. Perry’s stumble makes Mr. Romney (again) the favorite.  This excites few Republicans.

"Everyone’s willing to settle for Mitt Romney, but nobody wants to settle for Mitt Romney," said conservative blogger Erick Erickson.

We should remember that three years ago, the pundits who are telling us now how lousy the Republican candidates are told us then what a swell president Barack Hussein Obama would be.

If there’s widespread dissatisfaction with the GOP field, pollsters have yet to detect it.  A Suffolk University poll found only 11 percent of New Hampshire voters are "very dissatisfied."  That’s a very small number, said pollster Scott Rasmussen.

I wish Paul Ryan were running.  But I’m intrigued by Herman Cain.

Mr. Cain has a more impressive resume than all but a handful of professional politicians.  Like his IQ, it dwarfs that of Mr. Obama’s. 

He is completely self-made.  He was born (1945) and grew up in the Democrat Jim Crow South; his mother was a cleaning woman and his father a chauffeur.

He earned a master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University while working full-time for the Navy as a mathematician and physicist, developing ballistics for fighter planes and aircraft carriers – that’s heavy math.

His success in turning around troubled businesses rivals that of Mr. Romney.  He’s been president of the National Restaurant Association and chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

He’s been praised as "100% conservative" by Rush Limbaugh for his values, positions, and pride in being an American.

A stem-winding speaker with a reputation for candor and a self-deprecating sense of humor, Herman Cain is "the most engaging figure on the political scene," thinks screenwriter Roger Simon.

No one has performed better in debates than Mr. Cain, who has focused his fire on Mr. Obama, not on fellow Republicans.  Others could profit from his example.

Pundits dismiss Mr. Cain because he’s never held public office.  Considering who got us into the mess we’re in, voters may see this as an asset.

Ordinarily, straw polls are worth no more than Mr. Obama’s campaign promises.  But the three previous times it was conducted, the Florida straw poll accurately forecast the winner of the nomination.

A Zogby poll of Republicans nationwide taken before the Florida straw poll showed Mr. Cain (28 percent) well ahead of Gov. Perry (18 percent) and Mr. Romney (17 percent).

And Mr. Cain has an advantage no other conservative has.  As the party of big government at a time when 81 percent of Americans distrust it, Democrats can’t win on issues.  So they’ll rely on smears.  But how do you play the race card against Herman Cain?

Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret and a former deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration. He is national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.