NC Republicans find Cain able

Businessman Herman Cain seems to have grabbed the momentum in the scramble for the Republican presidential nomination.

Cain won a surprise victory in a Sept. 24 straw poll in Florida, and now is the front-runner in polls of voters in North Carolina, Nebraska and West Virginia by Public Policy Polling.

In North Carolina, Cain was favored by 27 percent of those polled, far ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, each of whom had 17 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry was the only other candidate in double digits at 15 percent.

A month ago, Cain himself was in single digits in North Carolina, according to the polls.

PPP says Cain is picking up support among the most conservative GOP voters, many of whom have fled Perry's camp in recent weeks. The Texan's popularity in North Carolina has cratered since last month, when he had the support of more than a third of the state's Republican voters.