Election 101: Is Herman Cain's media savvy enough to make him presidential? 10 things to know about him

The pizza magnate, aka the ‘Hermanator,’ is staging a full-on charm offensive, hoping his Southern-fried charisma, business savvy, top performance in the first GOP debate, and media prowess are enough to offset his fundamental flaw: zero political experience.

3. Who is his base?

Jim Cole/AP Photo
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain speaks during a dinner sponsored by Americans for Prosperity on April 29 in Manchester, N.H.

A folksy southern Baptist with fiscal experience and tea party cred who doesn’t shy away from social issues, Cain is poised to court all the major GOP players, says political scientist Tim Hagle: Southern votes, the religious right, social and fiscal conservatives, and tea partyers.

“Tea party folks, that’s the starting point for his base,” says Professor Hagle, from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. “He’s from Atlanta, so he should be strong in the Southern states … and it just branches out from there.”

Cain can also appeal to the GOP establishment and the bedrock conservative base of the party, says James Broussard, a GOP expert and professor of history at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA.

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