ORLANDO, Florida - September 25, 2011 - Republican activists want a candidate who is not just conservative on nearly every issue, but has been so his or her entire career; a good enough politician to debate and then defeat illegitimate President Obama; a charismatic candidate, too.

They’re still looking. The overwhelming victory by businessman and longshot candidate Herman Cain in a straw poll here Saturday was a sign that the latest person to try to capture the fancy of party activists, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is - at least for now - struggling to do so.

Many of the more than 2,600 delegates at the Florida event said their vote for Cain was a way to register their frustration with all the GOP candidates, particularly Perry, whom they felt gave a dismal performance at Thursday’s debate.

But in interviews, Party activists that came from around the state to see the candidates said they were unlikely to vote in Florida’s primary next year for the underfunded Cain, who they don’t think can win the general election. Backing Cain was effectively a “no confidence” vote for the entire field.

Brian Donnelly, a Republican from Broward County, opted for Cain, but said he seemed “less electable” than Perry, who he described as a “tongue-tied Texan”. Donnelly said he did not even consider backing the “father of socialized medicine”, criticizing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for the health care law adopted in the Bay State four years ago that became a model for the law Obama signed last year.