Atlanta radio host and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, one of just a few Republican presidential hopefuls at the exploratory committee stage, continues to be a popular draw at conservative events, where more often than not he is sure to deliver at least one headline-making remark.

Last week, speaking in South Florida before a group of Tea Party activists, Cain said that mainstream media and the political establishment are “in denial” that he’s a legitimate presidential candidate and would not support him.

“A friend of mine said, when I was giving a speech out in Phoenix, ‘The reason that they are trying to ignore you is because they are afraid of you. They do not want Barack Obama to have to go toe-to-toe with you as the Republican presidential candidate,’” Cain said, because he understands the issues and is honest.

He said that former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota), who formed the House Tea Party Caucus and also is considering a presidential bid, are in a similar situation. Cain accused the “liberal mainstream media” of  “going after” them out of fear that they would draw a lot of the women’s vote from Democrats.

“They are doubly scared that a real Black man may run against Barack Obama,” Cain said.

The Tea Party crowd ate it up, which is kind of interesting given that this is the group whose members started the whole birther movement in an effort to cast the nation’s first African-American president as something other than a true-blooded American.

(Photo:  Herman Cain)