Posted on 05/17/2011 7:11:45 AM PDT by justsaynomore
Most of the pundits do not believe Herman Cain has any chance of winning the GOP nomination. As is often the case, the pundits might be wrong. The Georgia businessman is showing signs that he just might be a force in the presidential race. Cain continues to win straw polls around the nation and was declared the winner of the first presidential debate. While tea party groups remain Cain’s base, his appeal is extending across the Republican spectrum.
Cain found plenty of interest among prominent Iowa Republicans Monday. He held private meetings with potential donors, was extremely well received at the State Capitol by Republican legislators, and shared a few minutes with Governor Branstad. That was followed by another very well received speech, as 90 likely caucus goers packed Smokey Row in Des Moines for a town hall meeting.
“Herman seems like the kind of guy that could win,” said businessman and farmer Wendell Eiklenborg following the event. “I’d like to see how he distinguishes himself from Judge Roy Moore on some issues, but I did like what he had to say.”
Iowans are noticing that Cain has a mixture of a lot of the qualities they are looking for in a candidate. The departure of Donald Trump gives Cain the exclusive edge of being the only businessman and non-politician in the race. Mike Huckabee’s decision not to run means Cain has little competition for the best communicator in the race. He has just as much Tea Party appeal as Michelle Bachmann.
Cain, like Huckabee, is a Baptist preacher. When asked during Monday’s town hall if Jesus Christ was his primary counselor, he quickly responded, “Yes”. Cain believes he will pick up some of the social conservative voters who backed Huckabee in 2008.
“I think the social conservatives might split into any number of candidates depending on who they want to support,” Cain told a gaggle of reporters Monday. “I think that my business background, my problem solving ability is what’s going to attract a lot of people. I am socially conservative, so I’ll probably pick up some of those but not necessarily all of them.”
Cain’s speech at last weekend’s Georgia GOP convention was interrupted by more than a dozen standing ovations. He spoke to a larger crowd and received much better response than his fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich. Although Gingrich is much better known, Cain believes he has an advantage over the former U.S. House Speaker.
“What distinguishes me from him is over 40 years of business experience, where he’s had over 40 years of political experience,” Cain said. “And I think over 40 years of business experience is resonating a lot more with people than simply having political experience. Knowing how Washington works isn’t necessarily an advantage. As a businessman going in, I don’t want to know how Washington works. I want to change Washington, D.C.”
Finally, perhaps more than any other candidate, Cain is naturally likeable and seems genuine. He is at ease while chatting with common Iowans. That is not the case with all the candidates. He also has a sense of humor and is able to tell jokes that aren’t scripted for him.
During the middle of his Q and A session at Smokey Row Monday, Cain interrupted himself and asked a man seated near him, “Are you gonna eat the rest of that sandwich?” It was an amusing, off-the-cuff moment that the crowd appreciated. “You can tell I like to have fun,” Cain said as the crowd chuckled.
Joyce Lutz, a retiree from Des Moines, says she will take her time to decide on a candidate, but impressed by Herman Cain. “I liked what he said,” Lutz said. “It was nice to hear that he’s a Christian. That’s a very positive thing.”
Cain is working hard to earn Iowans votes. He has a town hall meeting scheduled for Marshalltown on Tuesday, followed by a Linn County GOP chili cook-off in Cedar Rapids. He will return to the state Friday for the Pottawattamie County GOP’s fundraiser. On Saturday, Herman Cain will hold a rally in Atlanta to announce his official candidacy for the presidency. He remains a long shot, but no candidate has gained more momentum in the past few weeks that Cain. If that momentum continues, Cain very well might be able to win it all.
Photo by Dave Davidson
Is Herman Cain Becoming Legitimate Contender?
Lord, I hope so!
Your spamming every Cain thread with this is getting old. We are all aware that Herman is a natural born citizen.
I gotta be blunt here. I’m looking at his wiki page. We can’t throw someone with no governing experience at the White House just because the democrats did. I’m glad that he “returned Godfather’s Pizza to profitability” and has a radio show, but I’m going to need more than that before I can support someone for president.
Just based off what I’m reading, I can’t understand why he has support at this point. If anything, his extensive lobbying past makes me much less likely to support him.
This whole “no election experience” is such a non-starter to most Tea-Party and Libertarian voters!
Of course, the died-in-the-wool “Republicans” (those not necessarily conservative) will oppose him as much as possible! But, if he gets the momentum going, I think the “Republicans” will get on board! At that time, if he wins the Republican nomination, then I KNOW he will be the next President - HANDS DOWN!!!!
Can someone please explain to me why I should trust a former Federal Reserve chairman to represent my best interests, and not Wall Street and the big banks, large political interests, and even doing the same things Bernanke and Geithner are going right now?
There was once a Democrat from Georgia who everybody called a long shot and ended up in the White House because of a weak field in his party.
Isn’t Herman Cain from Georgia?
Yeah, and we owe y’all a do-over.
With a GREAT president this time :-)
Well, if you’re a Ron Paul supporter, it won’t really matter what I say. But for the benefit of others:
The fact is in the 90s he sat on (and chaired) on the board of the Kansas City branch of the Federal Reserve.
It has come up in interview after interview and here is where he stands, in his own words:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI_oocjB3A8&feature=player_embedded
If you do some digging on Herman Cain, and please do, go dig and dig, you will learn that he is for smaller, limited government and has been for decades. He realized sometime in the 80s that he was a conservative because his mindset did not match the democrats. He fought Clinton in the 90s and was instrumental in keeping us from being under Hillarycare right now.
He has been critical of all big spending administrations, whether democrat or republican, across the board, and wrote and spoke extensively about all of it. He’s been extremely critical of Bernake and Geithner. And this is all before he decided to run for President.
He launched his activist group “Intelligent Thinker’s Movement” several years ago, which has done a great job of educating, networking, getting out information so people could learn as well as be active in contacting representatives about issues related to overspending in DC.
His Hermanator PAC donated to dozens of conservative candidates, all of 2 of whom won in 2012.
He has done a lot of other things, under the radar that just make him an oustanding individual. Like using his own money to buy ads in the 2004 election to encourage blacks to vote their conscience and morals (pro life) rather than vote straight democrat ticket.
Alright, I appreciate the update. I haven’t followed Cain so he is a new prospect on my political radar. That said, I loathe the Fed and being the chair of the KC Fed was just a huge red flag for me.
I’ll remain skeptically open minded for the time being, but I am for anyone who is truly a conservative who will act in my best interests, so far be it for me to ignore someone if they turn out to be conservative.
As far as me being a Ron Paul supporter - hell no! I don’t think he is the kook many make him out to be, but I don’t want him for president either. He might make a good Secretary of the Treasury if he actually does what he says he would do. But then I don’t follow him all that much so I can’t be sure I truly understand him, just what I think I know.
Cain always says "Don't hold it against me that the first black one was bad."
There’s still a lot of time before the first actual primary vote. Cain is rising, and I think will have a good shot at it.
Newt stumbled, and I think is unrecoverable. There was a lot to like about Newt, and a lot to not like.
I still doubt Palin will even get in the race. RoPaul is going nowhere, as usual. Ditto for Gary Johnson. Pawlenty, I don’t know. I’m not impressed with him yet.
He should focus on winning SC - two reasons:
-The winner in SC is usually the nominee
-It’s next door to his home state and he’s Southern, so the appeal is strongest in SC.
You can update that to 22:4, or I guess reduce the fraction to 11:2.
Cain’s foreign policy beats the hell out of Ron Paul’s and no one is asking if Ron Paul is a legitimate candidate. He’s a candidate for a straight jacket.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.