When the 'Stan Hits the Fan

Anybody who thinks that Steyn is a RINO or an establishment guy doesn’t know a thing about him.

Steyn is perhaps the greatest analyst of modern Western culture there is and only an ignoramus would question his conservative bona fides.

You got that right.

I’m assuming you’re being sarcastic.

I wonder about the inconsistencies in his philosophy and the gaps in his interests, too.

How could a talk show host who has said he is pro-life, who has run for office in the past, mess up the “government should stay out of it” reply so spectacularly?

And why is he getting a pass on all his jokes and statements that he wasn’t wrong, but “that’s the end of it?”

I was not being sarcastic. I wanted people to discuss it, and I didn’t want it to be seen just as a “pro” or “anti” for a candidate. So, I thought of three arguments people might make, phrased them as a question, to see how people would respond.

I haven’t given up on Herman Cain. But unlike Rick Perry, and to a lesser extent Michelle Bachmann, I find that the flaws of Herman Cain get a very short shrift here. Which is fine — I think the other candidates should have been given the same benefit of the doubt. But as others tell me, the media isn’t going to give our candidates a free pass.

I’m going to post an example later today. But if people think that Herman Cain is going to get the Cinderella treatment from the media once he is “the conservative” alternative to Romney, much less if he wins our nomination, they are not thinking clearly. So before we all support him, we better come up with excellent arguments against the common attacks that will be made.

I don’t find Herman Cain’s life story as compelling as some, maybe because I’m missing the charm of the whole “poor black child from a poor black family makes it to the middle manager big time, and becomes a popular local talk show host”. I mean, it’s a nice “succeed on your own efforts” story.

But he wasn’t even the one of the best 10 CEOs in the Pizza business. He isn’t in the top 10 talk show hosts; heck, he might not even be the best black conservative talk show host (I don’t want to dwell on his color — but since Cain considers himself a “black American” I think it’s going to be something we talk about). He wasn’t the most outspoken, or best regarded, of the fed chairs. He stood against Hillarycare as a lobbyist, but every president of a small business trade association opposed HillaryCare; most businesses, most organizations, and most of america stood against it in the end. He wasn’t the BEST speaker against it; He might not even be the current Presidential Candidate most responsible for stopping it (I believe that title would fall to Newt Gingrich, who not only lead the defeat in the house, but turned it into a tidal wave victory for republicans).

I don’t think you have to be “the best” at anything to be President. But when you have no elective experience, no elective executive experience, and your entire pitch is about your life story and your ability to communicate, your life story should have some superior acheivements, and you shouldn’t be regularly saying stupid things and voicing bad policy that your advisors have to correct you on. Right of Return? Release Gitmo Terrorists for kidnapped Americans? A religious test for executive appointments? A killer electric fence? A family can break an abortion law, and that’s their choice?

The abortion thing was the stupidest, because he clearly had positioned himself as a solid pro-life candidate, and had done so in 2004 as well. Nobody really doubted him at all, until he started answering questions. And it wasn’t just Morgan’s show; it started months earlier with John Stossel. He had weeks to correct that interview, and made a choice not to, as if he wanted his position to remain obscure. And it took 4 tries after the Peirs Morgan fiasco for him to get a clear pro-life statement on record (that he would actually sign a bill banning abortion). That should have been listed on his web site the day after the Stossel interview. It’s like he didn’t understand that pro-life folks want to know that kind of information.

But in the end, I found Steyn’s observations eye-opening, because I had never tied all of Cain’s bad policy positions to anything but his inexperience. Steyn has me thinking that Cain COULD have had the right answers, but just had no interest in it. Which would be a bad thing for a nominee.

I’d never heard about the Stossel interview until well after I was shocked by the Morgan interview - never viewed it until last night. I’m very concerned about the unclear message, repeated and repeated, in July on Stossel and on several shows this last week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5zgEdfrfoQ&feature=related