Atlanta businessman Herman Cain’s strong showing in Thursday’s South Carolina GOP presidential debate — winning over a Fox News focus group in a performance that pollster Frank Luntz called “unprecedented” — has given his campaign a sudden boost, Neil King Jr. reports at the Wall Street Journal:

Interview requests are pouring in, along with donations, volunteers and invitations to speak.

On Friday night, several hundred people turned out to hear him in Las Vegas. The same night, he won a Washington state GOP straw poll. On Monday, former UPS president Ron Wallace will host a high-priced fundraiser for Mr. Cain in the suburbs of his hometown, Atlanta. Three hundred are expected to attend.

Long-shot presidential candidates seek one thing in the early stages of a campaign: Traction. Mr. Cain may have just won that.

At Friday’s event in Las Vegas, “Many came to see [Cain] despite not knowing who he was a mere 24 hours earlier,” blogger Mike Chamberlain reported.

Currently running an exploratory campaign, Cain has scheduled a May 21 rally at Atlanta’s Centennial Park where he is expected to make his presidential candidacy official.

Herman Cain was featured in a Dec. 27 profile for The American Spectator.