romney. by november 18th herman cain was so firmly ensconced as the front-runner for the republican nomination that he requested and got protection from the united states secret service. >> herman cain has become the first republican candidate to receive secret service protection. it is early in the process for a primary candidate to get a secret service detail. it's usually in response to an increase in verified threats. and in florida today cain talked about his new heavily armed traveling companions. >> we had private security for a while before we asked for secret service protection, but we wanted to move to that next level because of my ranking in the polls and the additional scrutiny that i have been getting. >> cain spoke in orlando, and already just behind the camera he was surrounded by secret service and local police. >> so that was november 18th, 2011.