Cain: ‘Feel good about where we finished’

Businessman and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said he was pleased with his fifth-place finish in Saturday’s influential Ames straw poll.

“We feel good about where we finished,” Cain said on CNN’s State of the Union.

{mosads}Cain congratulated Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on her victory but noted that her campaign had “put substantial funds” into her effort.

“They had 40 buses, we had four to bring people here. We spent zero on TV and zero on radio. And so this campaign is encouraged. And our momentum continues to grow.” he said.

“We finished in the middle of the pack, which is what we were hoping to do … not making a big, huge investment other than time and energy. So we feel very good about where we finished given everything and all of the dynamics,” Cain added.

Cain also responded to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s decision to drop out of the race. Cain said Pawlenty’s “big investment” had not paid off.

“He made a big investment, and he doubled down, as we call it, and it didn’t pay off,” said Cain.

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Cain speculated that Pawlenty’s fundraising woes convinced him to abandon his bid.

“He probably ended up still with some debt, and since he did not finish higher than the bogey that they had set for themselves, it’s going to be, as you said, more difficult for him to raise money. And so I believe that that’s probably it. He didn’t see — he didn’t get the boost that he was looking for,” Cain said.

Cain added that his own approach would help keep him in the race.

“I run a campaign like a business. In other words, I don’t allow — we don’t allow the spending to get out ahead of the revenue. So we always stay right behind it. And we were still able to be very, very effective. That’s the difference. So we’re not making huge gambles on spending before we get the money,” he said.

“Secondly, because of the grassroots nature of my campaign, and because of the way people are connecting with my message, it continues to gradually build. So it doesn’t have these ups and downs and these ebbs and flows like some of the other campaigns, if you are dependent on moving it with media. No, we’re moving it with message.”

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) won with about 29 percent of the vote, 4,823 votes out of a total of 16,892 ballots cast. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) placed a close second, at about 28 percent and 4,671 total votes. Cain finished at about 9 percent, fifth in the straw poll behind former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).

The Ames straw poll is considered a critical test of campaign strength and momentum ahead of February’s Iowa caucuses.