HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - In a city known for NASA, Herman Cain took a strong pro-space stand on the future of the United States space program Saturday evening before speaking to the Alabama Federation of Republican Women at the Marriott at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

In a brief press conference, Cain, a candidate for the GOP nomination for president, was critical of President Obama's stance on the space program.

"I was disappointed when President Obama decided to cut a significant part of the space program,'' Cain said. "Here's why: John F. Kennedy had a vision to say by the end of the 1960s America would walk on the moon. He inspired this nation. We admired that objective because of (the) enteprenurial spirit. The companies stepped up because of his vision.''

Cain said he believes Americans are still inspired by the space program. He believes, too, that Americans took a dim view of sharing the International Space Station with the Russians.

"When President Obama decided to cut, it put the United States in a position that we don't like,'' he said. "We don't like to have to thumb-ride with the Russians when we were the first ones and the leaders in space technology.

"It's not just about getting to the moon and outer space. The space program inspires other technological advances to business and the economy. In the Cain presidency, it will be reversed back to where it should be.''

Cain's remarks came during a two-day whirlwind tour of Alabama - a tour that apparently has paid dividends for Cain.

On Saturday, he won two state straw polls, according to Shana Kluck, communications director for the Alabama Republican Party.

In Tuscaloosa, he won the West Alabama Republican Assembly straw poll, receiving 176 votes. Ron Paul was second with 156 votes, she said.

Cain also won the Alabama Federation of Republic Women's straw poll in Huntsville with 50 percent of the vote. Newt Gingrich was second with 21 percent, Mitt Romney third with 14 percent and Rick Perry fourth with 12 percent, she said.