Fresh off his victory in last week's Florida straw ballot, businessman and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain was in Schaumburg on Saturday, courting attendees at TeaCon, the Midwest's Tea Party convention.
"This nation has become a nation of crisis that's dragging us down. We have an economic crisis. We have an entitlement spending crisis," he told audience of an estimated 700 people.
"Herman Cain's message is clearly resonating," Chicago Tea Party director Steve Stevlic said of the former Godfather's Pizza CEO.
While Tea Party members more closely-align themselves with Republicans, many of those at the convention on Saturday described themselves as independent thinkers who haven't yet chosen a candidate to support.
"I consider myself a member of the common sense party. Take in less than you spend. And I'm here because I thoroughly believe in that. I have to run my house that way. I think my elected officials should run their house that way," said one man.
Issues like ObamaCare are too costly and too intrusive, they say.
The convention at the Renaissance Schaumburg also featured remarks Rep. Joe Walsh (R-McHenry). Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota spoke via video.
The event comes on the heels of a recent poll that shows a decline in Tea Party support among Americans. The Opinion Research/CNN poll (.pdf), taken Sept. 23-25, found just 28 percent with favorable opinions of the Tea Party, while 53 percent took an unfavorable view of the movement.
