Not everyone needs to go to Disney World to have fun in central Florida.

After one of Herman Cain's strongest showings yet at a Republican presidential debate Thursday, and two days with conservative activists in the state, he won the "Presidency 5" straw poll in Orlando over the weekend, beating Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the front-runner in the primary race, by more than 20 points.

While straw polls are not scientific and their results can be poor indicators of whether a candidate will win a party's nomination--the latest actual Florida poll put Cain near the bottom--they can help spark some momentum, especially for lower-tier candidates. For Cain, a 65-year-old businessman, mathematician, author and radio host from Atlanta, Georgia, his straw poll win could well be the high-water mark of his campaign. And by his own admission, the path that brought him this far wasn't an easy one. The morning before the straw poll, I met Cain for coffee

Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain won the Presidency 5 straw poll here Saturday, delivering a blow to Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s front-runner status and a victory for a candidate who has struggled to transform his grass-roots popularity into strong showings in national polls.

“Tonight’s winner is Herman Cain,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced. “It shows you something: The road to the White House comes through Florida, and it pays to spend time here.”

Mr. Cain received 37 percent of the more than 2,600 votes cast.

“Thank you to the Republican voters for this incredible honor of being named the winner of the Presidency 5 straw poll in Florida today,” Mr. Cain said. “This is a sign of our growing momentum and my candidacy that cannot be ignored. I will continue to share my message of ‘common-sense solutions’ across this country and look forward to spending more time in Florida, a critical state for both the nomination and the general election.”

As NewsBusters reported Friday, Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman during an interview on CNN said members of the Tea Party are racists willing to do whatever they can to "get this black man" out of the White House.

After his win in Saturday's Florida straw poll, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain responded to Freeman during an interview with Fox News's Neil Cavuto (video follows with transcript and commentary):

NEIL CAVUTO: Morgan Freeman, the actor, has been very critical of Tea Parties, and said that what they’re doing is racist. I’m paraphrasing here, but what do you make of that argument?

HERMAN CAIN: Most of the people that are criticizing the Tea Parties, Neil, about having a racist element, they have never been to a Tea Party.

CAVUTO: But wait a minute. He has played a President of the United States.

CAIN: Oh. Great, yeah, in a movie. This is real life out here on the campaign trail, man. This is not a movie.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to lead the race for the Republican nomination, but Michele Bachmann has surged into second place following her Monday night entry into the campaign.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters, taken following the candidates’ Monday night debate, shows Romney earning 33% support, with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a surprise second at 19%. Georgia businessman Herman Cain is in third place with 10% of the vote.

Radio talkshow host Herman Cain, who once ran the Godfather's Pizza chain, announced Saturday his bid oust President Barack Obama from the White House in 2012.
"Just be to clear -- I'm running for president of the United States and I'm not running for second," Cain told a rapturous crowd at Atlanta, Georgia's Centennial Olympic Park that responded by chanting "Herman! Herman! Herman!"

The 65-year-old businessman has never held public office, but said he was joining an already crowded Republican field of candidates after spending several months traveling around the country and meeting voters.

An American success story and tea-party favorite who could be Obama's "worst nightmare" tells WND he will make a "very important announcement" to the nation in less than 48 hours.

"I feel God's hand in this decision that I'm going to announce on Saturday, May 21, in Atlanta at Centennial Olympic Park at high noon," Herman Cain, an Atlanta radio talk-show host, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza and 2004 Senate seeker, told WND. "We're expecting more than 5,000 people to be there at the announcement rally."

An invitation on his presidential exploratory committee website notes that Cain will share "his final decision about a potential run for the White House in 2012." His announcement will be broadcast live on his website.