Posted on 10/22/2011 12:04:00 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
A conservative African-American CEO of a successful pizza chain, Herman Cain has no political experience, low name recognition and a campaign with little cash and even less staff. But he's the current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nod.
In a quirky field of Republican presidential contenders that includes a foster mother to 23, a former Obama administration employee, and a doctor who advocates the legalisation of heroin and prostitution, Herman Cain is the unlikeliest candidate of all.
A conservative African-American radio personality and former CEO of a successful pizza chain called Godfather’s, the 65-year-old Cain has no political experience, relatively low name recognition, and a campaign with little cash and even less staff.
But in the game of musical chairs that seems to determine who is leading the Republican field on any given day, it is now Cain’s time in the frontrunner’s seat. Capitalising on a lack of enthusiasm for presumptive nominee Mitt Romney and a string of shaky debate performances by Texas Governor Rick Perry, Cain has used his humor-inflected brand of populism, business credentials, and Washington-outsider status to surge to the top of the pack; recent polls show Cain tying with Romney or trailing by just one point in Republican preferences nation-wide and beating Romney in key states like Iowa, Florida, Ohio, and South Carolina.
In the early phase of the campaign for the nomination, Cain coasted on witty debate performances and interviews, as well as appearances to promote his new book (exuberantly titled “This is Herman Cain! My Journey to the White House”).
But now that Cain has made it into the first tier of conservatives vying to unseat Obama, press, pundits, and rivals have started scrutinising his positions more closely – and the future of his candidacy depends on how he navigates that attention.
A ‘lean and mean’ approach to politics
That Cain has become something of an overnight political success without any background in politics can be attributed to Republican voters’ dissatisfaction with the candidates who have been front and centre, according to political scientist John Fortier of prominent Washington DC-based think tank Bipartisan Policy Centre. “Despite the fact that Romney’s doing well, there’s hunger on the Republican side for a more authentic conservative,” Fortier explained. “Cain is very charismatic and outspoken, and he more or less has not strayed from traditional conservative principles.”
Romney and Perry, on the other hand, are frequently accused of having shifted their positions on issues from abortion to healthcare to immigration during lengthy careers that have led them from governors’ mansions to the presidential campaign trail.
Indeed, Cain has been able to hone his image as an American success story without political baggage. Having grown up poor in Georgia, Cain went on to earn degrees in mathematics and computer science. Before presiding over his restaurant franchise, he chaired the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Missouri.
“There’s appeal to being an outsider,” Fortier assessed. “And in this election, even more than others, the idea of a businessman is attractive: someone who can balance a budget and make tough economic decisions.”
Cain is aware of that allure. “I’m trying to run this campaign like a start-up business, which means lean and mean,” he told journalists in New York earlier this month. Indeed, the candidate has not made the rounds of typical meet-and-greet events at restaurants and factories or employed the usual army of volunteers and consultants.
But Cain has managed to turn his reluctance to engage in classic campaigning into a niche amid a crop of candidates who have increasingly seemed to be clawing at each other for a bit of the spotlight. Cain’s now-famous economic proposal, the “9-9-9” tax plan, is emblematic of his pared-down, no-nonsense approach to politics: the reform would set individual and business income tax rates, as well as a national sales tax rate, at 9 percent, getting rid of all other federal taxes.
Cain’s has presented other simple, catchy ideas that have endeared him to Tea Party supporters who favour fiscal and constitutional conservatives: he has said that if elected, he would require staff to keep a copy of the Constitution, cancel half the traditional inaugural balls (which he called “a waste of time”), and combat any attempt to use Shariah law in US courts.
Another, though less quantifiable, possible reason for Cain’s popularity stems from the rarity of a having a black Republican presidential candidate. The party has recently intensified efforts to encourage conservative candidates of colour, and according to Fortier, “there are a number of Republican voters who don’t like the president’s policies, but are tolerant and open-minded, and think it’s a good thing for there to be an African-American Republican presidential candidate”.
That may explain why Cain’s rivals for the nomination have been reluctant to attack him with the same ferocity they have unleashed on one another. In the debate this week, candidate Rick Santorum prefaced his criticism of Cain’s tax plan with “Herman’s well-meaning, and I love his boldness”, while Perry softened his jab with an even more effusive disclaimer: “Herman, I love you, brother.”
All style, no substance?
But if other candidates have greeted Cain’s rise with smiles and shrugs, commentators have been less indulgent. Prominent political analyst Ron Faucheux called Cain’s latest debate performance “unconvincing and superficial”, while top newspapers have lately been awash with stories detailing recent gaffes – particularly Cain’s statement during an interview with major TV channel NBC that “he was not familiar with the neoconservative movement”, as well as his proposal to build a border fence that would electrocute those who tried to cross illegally (a joke, he later said).
Also raising eyebrows is Cain’s unapologetic lack of foreign policy expertise. He has argued that a commander-in-chief can surround himself with international relations specialists, and that knowing, as he cheekily phrased it, “who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan” is not necessary. The comment was the source of a shared chuckle at a high-level diplomatic meeting two days later; in Kabul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai joked to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Cain’s remark – which he summed up as “all the ’stans whatever” – “wasn’t right…but anyway, that’s how politics are”.
Meanwhile, Cain has been forced to start clarifying his proposals and positions. Responding to claims that his “9-9-9” plan would raise taxes on poor and middle-class Americans, Cain acknowledged in an interview with NBC that “some people will pay more”. And pressed on his staunch pro-life stance on abortion, Cain conceded to Piers Morgan on CNN that “it’s not the government's role ... to make that decision” – a remark that Iowa conservative Bob Vander Plaats slammed as “a pro-choice position”.
A ‘credible alternative’ to Obama?
In order to address concerns that Cain does not have a firm enough grasp of even the conservative platform, the candidate’s campaign has recently announced the addition of policy advisors.
But many pundits predict that Cain’s frontrunner status will be fleeting, because Republican primary voters will ultimately see him as vulnerable against Obama in a general election. “He would have to do a lot to convince people that his background and credentials are enough to be a credible alternative to the president,” said Fortier.
Thomas Mann, a specialist in US elections at the Brookings Institution, a prominent public policy organisation in Washington, is even more unequivocal: “He is so obviously unqualified for the position that his leading the polls is a commentary on the field of candidates and the rationality of the Republican primary electorate.”
For the moment, though, that electorate is placing him above his more seasoned rivals – a fact that enables Cain to brush off criticism. “You know you must be doing something right when you get a lot of arrows in your back,” Cain said last week in a speech to lawmakers in the state of New Hampshire. “But this is the first time that arrows have felt really, really good.”
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I am sure Cain knows the number of states we have...That puts him way ahead of Obama.
"He's black, you stupid Republicans! You can't vote for him on that basis alone. If you listened to your European betters you would be backing moderate, likeable Romney!"
Actually instead of second guessing the military and pretending to be the smartest guy in the room like Obama, Mr. Cain would probably let his generals conduct the wars with little or no interference other than his informed approval.
The commander in chief does not need to be involved at the tactical level and shouldn’t really be all too involved at a strategic level.
Any president who directs a war at the battalion level is doomed to lose a war (black ops are an exception).
He’s done a lot more than run a pizza chain
but Obama was qualified.... how??
This is not really an EU perspective. It is typical inside the beltway BS:
” . . . political scientist John Fortier of prominent Washington DC-based think tank Bipartisan Policy Center . . . .”
“Thomas Mann, a specialist in US elections at the Brookings Institution, a prominent [leftist] public policy [propaganda] organisation in Washington”
Career “professional” Politicians got us into this mess. We need Cain like minded people elected at all levels of government in order to get our nation off that “Greece Road to Prosperity”.
I completely agree! Herman Cain 2012. We all heard how much Obama made last time around off his $5 internet based donations... so I decided maybe the little extra cash I have could make a difference this time around... and especially if millions more people will follow my lead. I had already ordered my Herman Cain bumper stickers from his website and they should be on their way, so Wednesday, I decided to skip lunch and Donate another $9.99 through his website. I plan to do the same at least once if not twice a month.
born December 13, 1945 in Memphis, TN (Meets the Jus Soli Requirement)
Parents were
Luther Cain Jr., born March 16, 1925 in TN, died March 29, 1982 in Atlanta, GA
Lenora Davis, born July 27, 1925 in GA, died August 20, 2005 in Atlanta, GA
Both parents were US Citizens at the time of his birth (Meets the Jus Sanguinis Requirement)
Herman Cain is a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN
Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama ISN'T!
Don’t forget about your Reps in the House and Senate. If Cain is elected he will need as many like minded people. If not, the “Professional” in both parties will fight him tooth and nail.
but Obama was qualified.... how??
Of course, you are right, but that does point out an important fact. The media have become the Ministry of Propaganda for the Democrat Party and the Democrat Party is outright socialist. Where the Republican Party has to buy air time and political ads, the Democrats get a 24/7 free ride disguised as reporting and journalism. Through in the money they get from the laundering of union dues into campaign contributions and you see what an uphill battle we have.
The GOP party insiders want a candidate that will not be as polarizing as a staunch conservative in order to try to offset the media to some extent. Most Americans want a staunch conservative and therein lies the rub.
Advise given by the EU comical!
Biden said he is clean and articulate. How much more qualified do you want?
God love him. He MUST fortify and upgrade his most vulnerable area: Foreign Policy. If I were a GOP rival, the MSM or Obama, this is precisely where and how I would derail Herman. There is still time to reinforce this vital area, tone down the jokes, and develop a more CONFIDENT, informed narrative. We are in the BIG LEAGUES now.
ANY republican with an IQ in the triple digits and a good command of colloquial English will win.
Howsabout a CONSERVATIVE this time?
Cain’s foreign policy inexperience is easily remedied. Republicans could declare him an honorary member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and add all the hearings he didn’t attend to his resume. That, plus a couple of quick overnighters to London and Beijing, would bring him up to Obamaspeed pronto.
Time to RAISE Cain!
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