How did Herman Cain jump from third-tier candidate to serious contender in a matter of weeks? Now that he’s jostling Mitt Romney for frontrunner status in the GOP primary, Dr. Robert P. Jones has some insightful analysis on just why Cain is so popular, particularly among white evangelical Protestants. Turns out it may have less to do with Cain’s excellence as a candidate, and more about his rivals’ failings.

A new survey by Public Religion Research Institute reveals that Cain’s success in the primary campaign parallels his success in business. Cain has triumphed, not by overpowering the competition, but by creating a niche based on his competitors’ weaknesses…white evangelical Protestant voters are far more likely to identify with Romney’s political views than his religious beliefs. About 1 in 5 evangelical voters say that of the Republican presidential candidates, Romney’s political views are most closely aligned with their own, while only 8 percent say the same of his religious beliefs. On the other hand, as I warned back in September, Rick Perry may have erred too far on the side of sectarian religious rhetoric without establishing himself as a political heavyweight. While 22 percent of evangelical voters say that Perry’s religious beliefs are closest to their own, only 12 percent say they most identify with his political views. At least for white evangelical Protestant voters, Cain seems to have settled into a void that neither Romney nor Perry can fill…

To read the whole column, head over to Dr. Jones’ Washington Post blog, “Figuring Faith.”