Godfather S Pizza

Call him candidate zero. Rick Santorum told social conservatives gathered in Washington on Friday that he would be a reliable advocate for the cause of life in the White House. But the former Pennsylvania senator, whose debate performances have been well-received but has yet to see that translate to national polling, also sold his credentials on defense and economic issues. On the latter, he targeted Herman Cain, who's quickly risen to near the top of the pack in national polls.

Despite the heavy topic of Tuesday night's debate about the economy and jobs, there were a number of light moments, especially around Herman Cain's catchy-sounding “9-9-9” economic plan, which calls for abolishing the tax code (more or less) and replacing it with a 9% tax on corporate profits and personal income and a 9% sales tax. “When you mention a flat tax,” Charlie Rose asked former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. , “does that mean that you look with some favor upon 9-9-9 that Herman Cain mentioned at the beginning of this conversation?

Herman Cain, the businessman whose fortunes as a presidential candidate are rising in national polls, raised $2 million for his campaign in just the last two weeks, his campaign reported Saturday. That amount comes in addition to the $2.8 million he reported raising on his official filing to the Federal Election Commission for the last quarter,  which closed at the end of last month. His campaign attributes the bump in donations to his debate appearance in Orlando, Fla., last month and his victories subsequently in Florida and other straw polls.

After vowing that he was no longer going to address the burgeoning sexual misconduct scandal that has clouded his prospects for the presidency, Herman Cain now appears set to keep talking and talking about it. “When I made the statement I'm done talking about this, I was talking about the firestorm last week. I wasn't talking about this new firestorm,” Cain told TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday. ( Watch video below .) The “new firestorm”  refers to, of course, the explosive allegations by a Chicago-area woman, Sharon Bialek, that Cain groped her in a car 14 years ago while Bialek was in Washington looking for help finding a job. Three other women reportedly have objected to Cain's conduct while he was the head of the National Restaurant Assn in the late 1990s.

How do you know that the buzz concerning Chris Christie joining the GOP presidential field has become significant? When his possible opponents start beating him up. They hit him on both sides Sunday, even as reports have Christie close to a decision. For the Record, Oct. 3: An earlier version of this online article quoted Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour as saying of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, "I don't think it is too late for a candidate of his statute to decide to run. " Barbour said "a candidate of his stature.

Are we witnessing Hermentum? Hermantum? Hermanentum? Herman Cain thinks so. And for once, he has some numbers to back him up. The latest Gallup poll, released Thursday, showed Cain, the former honcho of a pizza chain, outpolling, among others, Tim Pawlenty, the two-term governor of Minnesota, and Michele Bachmann, the fiery congresswoman from Minnesota, among Republican presidential aspirants. The poll, a survey of Republicans and GOP-tilting independents, had Cain at 8%, despite his lack of name recognition.

Stridently denying allegations of an extramarital affair, Herman Cain returned to New Hampshire on Wednesday night telling supporters he was a victim of character assassination and would make a decision about whether to stay in the race within a few days after sitting down face-to-face with his wife Friday. "They keep coming after me," Cain told volunteers who gathered at his headquarters on Lowell Street in downtown Manchester. "After that latest firestorm, there were some people who thought that I was finished, but I'm going to leave it with Yogi Berra's comment.

Last week marked the final time that presidential candidates will publicly disclose their fundraising and campaign spending before the first nominating contests of the 2012 election. Fundraising got off to a slower start in 2011 than it did in 2007, when candidates from both parties began raising money in the first quarter of the year. This time, the so-called money primary - that crucial stretch of months from when a candidate jumps into the race until the first nominating ballots are cast - didn't kick off until the spring.