JACKSON, Tenn. — Herman Cain is firing up the crowd at a Tea Party rally in this western Tennessee town when the generator powering his sound system shudders to a halt.
Cain stands awkwardly for a few moments, then begins to sing. Slowly at first but gaining in speed, he belts out “Impossible Dream” in the rich baritone he has honed in church choir.
“You know, when it’s your rally, you can do what you want to do!” Cain says as he finishes with a raucous laugh. The 500 or so supporters who have jammed the strip mall parking lot to hear the Republican Party’s newest star speak roar their approval.
Momentum restored, Cain launches into a pitch for his signature 9-9-9 tax plan, and the crowd is right there with him, chanting 9-9-9 along with the Georgia businessman.
The plan would scrap the current tax code and replace it with a 9 percent tax on personal income and corporations as well as a new 9 percent national sales tax.
The 65-year-old’s improbable campaign for the presidency is all about momentum. How does he maintain the wave he is riding in recent polls that has catapulted him from an also-ran in the GOP race to the elite top tier?
There are many reasons his bid could fade as quickly as it rose. He acknowledged Friday that he will trail former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry in fundraising. Cain has never held elected office and could wilt under the rigors of the campaign trail and the withering scrutiny coming his way.
But the former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive is marketing himself with practiced skill, banking on his charisma and the notion that the messenger is as important as the message. His everyman image is resonating.
“In the field right now, he’s the most like me,” said Jimmy Hoppers, a 60-year-old physician from Jackson, who hoped to meet Cain so he could hand-deliver a $1,000 donation to his campaign. “He’s run a business and paid the bills. He’s authentic.”
In a year of anti-government fervor, Cain is casting himself as the anti-politician Main Street candidate who would bring common-sense business know-how to the bureaucratic thick of Washington. The former conservative radio show host is brash and straight-talking, saying that “stupid people are ruining America.” He mocks liberals with a high-pitched whiny voice.
Voters are responding. He drew large and enthusiastic crowds Friday as he kicked off a two-day bus tour in Tennessee, hopscotching to a trio of Tea Party events across the state. Tea Party activists make up the backbone of Cain’s support, and he speaks their language fluently.
“My fellow patriots,” he begins some sentences. References to freedom and liberty pepper his remarks. He dives into an anecdote about the Constitution and takes a jab at President Barack Obama.
“You know what? I kinda like my guns and my Bible,” he says.
