A Frank Luntz-conducted focus group which declared Herman Cain the overwhelming victor in the first Republican Party presidential debate had conservative radio talk-show host Michael Medved claiming that it 'provides potent counter-evidence to the tired Democratic charge that conservatives ... dislike Obama primarily because he's African-American.'

Political gadfly Alan Keyes, and Herman Cain, who appears to be emerging as the latest African American "It Guy" of the conservative movement, have a fair amount in common. They are both extremely conservative; anti-same-sex marriage and virulently anti-abortion. They both hosted radio programs. They both have serious communications chops; just as Keyes could win over a live audience of conservatives with a quiver full of sharp rhetorical flourishes, one liners and clever comebacks, Cain appears to have mastered some of the same skills.