There’s just something about Herman Cain

He’s sort of unpolished, he’s made some cringe-worthy comments about Muslims, and he’s…well, Black.

Yet somehow, an ultra-conservative, often racially-insensitive, Tea Party-tinged Republican Party is all about Herman Cain these days.

And who can blame them when he drops gems like this one from a few days ago, regarding Occupy Wall Street:

“’Don’t blame Wall Street,’ Cain said. ‘Don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.’”

And later:

“It is not a person’s fault because they succeeded. It is a person’s fault if they failed. And so this is why I don’t understand these demonstrations and what is it that they’re looking for.”

Out of touch? With you, perhaps. But apparently not with Tea Party Republicans. Recent poll numbers show that Cain’s recent upsurge is no fluke. According to NewsOne:

“Cain has topped a slew of recent straw polls – tests of conservative activists – notably pulling off an upset in the battleground state of Florida. His fundraising has apparently picked up and his poll numbers are climbing, too. A new CBS survey had the Atlanta businessman in a statistical tie for the lead with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. His just-released, rags-to-riches political memoir has landed among Amazon.com’s top 10 best-sellers.”

NewsOne’s write-up on Herman Cain’s upsurge in the polls is certainly worth a look. Check it out here.

To some, the elephant in the room is Cain’s race. But is it really all that surprising that he’s found traction amongst a conservative base when  he’s openly expressed the opinion that Black people are politically “brainwashed,” Muslims are scary, or that the less-fortunate should blame themselves for their lot in life?

Perhaps he’s just playing the game. Red meat for the base is all well and good. But does he really think that kind of talk will play well with the rest of the electorate?

Not trying to be a hater, but Herman Cain is just saying all the right things right now to a Republican Party desperate for anyone but Mitt Romney.

A couple months ago, so was Michelle Bachmann.

Haven’t heard from her in a while, have we?