“The other candidates cannot ignore his recent bump in the polls and new found status among GOP voters,” he told TheDC. “That said, I think most will look at his organization, his schedule of appearances focusing on a book tour, and what appears to be a less than aggressive overall effort in the early states and decide that even if he wanted to, he will not be able to take advantage of his new found success.”

Continuing, Lesperance said: “Perry is likely to ignore him since there is no upside to reminding folks that Cain is somehow challenging him for the alternative to Romney role. Romney is likely to praise Cain because that’s Romney’s style and it further diminishes Perry. The other candidates like Santorum and Bachmann are likely to ignore him as they’ve done in the past. There just is no upside to going after him in a big way.”