La estrategia sureña de Cain

The Associated Press:

He's doing things his own way.

Cain has carved out an unorthodox — some say impossible — path to the White House, largely eschewing early voting states to focus heavily on the South. It's a region where tea party groups, social conservatives and evangelical voters that make up the backbone of his support hold sway.

Cain hasn't set foot in Iowa or New Hampshire for weeks. Instead, he's barnstormed through Tennessee and Alabama, states that don't hold primaries until March.

"The South looks very, very good for us," Mark Block, Cain's campaign manager, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Do the early states matter? Of course. But they are not everything."

Block argues that next year's compressed primary calendar means more states will play larger roles. So instead of scurrying around New Hampshire trying to win over skeptics, the campaign team is revving up support in states where Cain's small government, anti-tax message and church revival-style delivery resonate with voters.

Cain was trying to show that in Alabama, where enthusiastic, overflow crowds greeted him at every stop. In Talladega, residents were visibly excited by the first visit from a presidential candidate in modern memory.

"I heard that FDR waved from the train once when he came through," said Jeanne Rasco, who had turned out for a packed Cain rally at a historic theater on the city square. "I think it shows he cares about our values. He's one of us," she said.

Cain himself plays up his Southern roots: His drawl grows a little thicker and he mentions God a little more frequently, to suit the crowd. "I am in Alabama because Alabama matters," Cain said at the state's party headquarters. "Ya'll are my neighbors."