Posted on 05/23/2011 6:30:49 AM PDT by Gargantua
While it is clear from the outset that a large percentage of lurkers and posters on FreeRepublic are staunch supporters of Sarah Palin, there are nonetheless a significant if considerably smaller number who avidly support Herman Cain. My curiosity piqued by this fact, I decided to watch Herman in his interview yesterday on “2012 One-on-One” with Chris Wallace, FOX NEWS Sunday.
As the show opened, Chris ran a videotape of Herman at a campaign stop where he commandeered the stage with an undeniable presence, arms spread expansively, and said “Once I am president, Americans will be able to say, “Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty we are once again free at last.”' Truly powerful stuff.
Wallace went on to query Cain in some detail about what he referred to as “The Cain Doctrine.” Chris first asked him, “Free from what?” I won't waste time by reciting a verbatim transcript of the back-and-forth between them, but I have supplied a link < http://video.foxnews.com/v/954878611001/ > which I encourage you to use to verify what I am reporting here. Cain listed those things from which Americans can expect to be freed by electing him president, and then he enumerated in detail the steps he would take as president to deliver us.
Wallace then “drilled deep,” asking pointed questions about the specific facets Cain had laid out, and brought up the fact that many of these suggestions Cain had listed, in fact, would not work given the current economic situation. Cain, in a surprise move, agreed, saying, “If they (Republicans) had seen these things coming, and done what I am suggesting a year ago, it could have worked. But no, it will not work now.”
Cain laid out his point-by-point plan for fixing America's problems, then admitted that the plan would not, could not work. I'm as stunned as I have ever been.
I understand how incongruous, unlikely, and absolutely contradictory this sounds. I implore you, go to the link I have provided and watch what I watched. It is astounding. At two minutes and 30 seconds into this 13 minute vid, just look at the expression on Herman's face as Wallace questions him. He looks like a student trying to come up with an excuse for why he hadn't read the chapter assigned to him the day before.
That said, please ignore the characterizations and opinions here, and watch the video. For any candidate to lay out in detail a plan for America's success, citing it as the reason why we all should vote for him, and then immediately follow up by admitting that his plan cannot work is pretty much the beginning and the end of his campaign. I understand the desire to field a Republican candidate who is a person of color, since that would remove from their quiver the Democrats’ predictable arrows and accusations of racism.
But just as my heart sank when Lt. Col. Allen West stated with finality that he would not be seeking the presidency in 2012, I realized that Herman Cain, whether or not he is capable of winning the primary (and given what we see here, that remains a very serious question), quite simply is not the one we need or should want leading this nation from the White House. There are times when he does say all the right things, and I do not question that his heart is in the right place. Well-written speeches and good intentions alone do not a great leader make. America needs a great leader.
It would be very easy, and I even fully expect, for many of Cain's most staunch supporters here on FreeRepublic to simply accuse me of having an agenda or to state factually that my allegiances lay elsewhere. While I do indeed have an agenda, and while it is true that I prefer another for the White House in 2012, those facts do not dismiss, explain, or forgive the unbridgeable gap between the promises held in Herman rhetoric and his own admission that his plan will never deliver them.
America needs a great leader, and that leader is not Herman Cain.
8^D
8^D
“Will you sit out a Cain election process?”
What prompted that question? Did you read my posts or not?
Do either of you know if Cain will be at the debate in NH in a few weeks?
I do not know for sure, but I would certainly imagine he will be.
I was implying Obama, were you implying me?
And I thought he did FINE in the interview once I finally watched it.
His comments about the “Cain Plan” not working, I don’t believe he was trying to say “well my plan won’t work but I’ll do it anyway” - he was attempting to say that had the GOP listened to him (or had he been President today) it never would have gotten this far. My take was it was an “unfinished” conversation (since Wallace changed the subject) where he could have clarified the “well what is your proposal for 2013 when you take office” part of the question, which was left open-ended.
He did flub a bit on the “right of return” but I think he handled it OK...and he did clarify his statement. His primary statement that the Palestinians don’t want peace is a far cry from the PC crap most Republicans say on the subject.
Lesson he should learn:
1. Don’t let a pundit leave you with an unfinished thought.
2. Call John Bolton or Donald Rumsfeld for a crash course.
When Palin decides NOT to run (my opinion), Cain’s numbers will skyrocket IMHO.
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