After almost fourteen years as a conservative member of FR it's disheartening to hear that I am perhaps being called a 'useful idiot of Axelrod,' a 'RINO,' a 'drive-by conservative,' a 'white hooded pharisee,' a dupe of the liberal media or the ruling Republican elite, and more by fellow FR members because of my choice no longer to support Mr. Cain. It is disheartening to hear that I may have made 'blood enemies.'
FR members should not have to justify decisions of this sort on FR. However, because there has been a call for an inquisition, a purge of suspected RINOs, or whatever you wish to call it, I feel a need to speak out. I’m certain other FR members who were uncommitted chose not to support Mr. Cain or chose to remove their support from Mr. Cain for similar reasons to mine and I do not believe it fair that they or I be called these names or be called out as suggested targets of a purge by zealous Herman Cain supporters.
For one thing, there is an assumption that my decision was based entirely or in great part about the truth of allegations regarding Mr. Cain and women. In fact, other categories of issues were the deciding factors.
I became concerned about Mr. Cain’s lack of knowledge about U.S. policy and foreign policy issues. I considered some instances more than mere gaffes. I disagreed with Mr. Cain when he said “I'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy.” Most of you probably have different opinions that I do regarding that, and I respect your right to view the issue differently. Please respect mine.
As a long-time listener to Mr. Cain on WSB radio of Atlanta, I had formed the perception years ago that Mr. Cain used only a thin veneer of facts on his show and relied on his charm and humor. I assumed that was a designed part of the show. Now I think his depth of knowledge of these matters really is veneer thin, based on his answers to questions. Mr. Cain is still charming and witty, but I’ve become worried that he exhibits a trait that many successful business leaders have: he immerses himself in people who know the facts for him. I respect that a President must select excellent advisors and cannot be an expert on everything, but I expect him to know more than a veneer of facts about key issues. That was a judgment I made unrelated to the women.
I grew concerned with misstatements that at best were unintentionally but, to me, materially misleading, such as identifying the 9-9-9 plan’s main economist as Rich Lowrie (from either Ohio or Texas; in the debate Mr. Cain used both states in about a twenty-second span, but I forget things under pressure, too). Mr. Lowrie has no economics degree nor training in economics. He’s a trained accountant at Wells Fargo. There were similar statements that were ‘business as usual’ for Romney-esque politicians; but I’m not voting for Romney and I didn’t expect them from Mr. Cain. My concern over misleading statements was a judgment I made unrelated to the women.
A seed planted earlier over Mr. Cain’s announcement of and full commitment, and then upon questioning backtracking from, plans such as 9-9-9, began to grow. Was Mr. Cain truly committed to those things he said he was committed to? Or only until he was forced to defend them? It appeared that he would equivocate when forced to defend a policy, such as apparently changing stances on abortion. My concern had nothing to do with the women.
In my opinion, Mr. Cain’s campaign staff presented itself as unprofessional and incompetent in preparing Mr. Cain, in addressing the policy gaffes and actual errors, in handling Mr. Cain’s backtracking from positions, and so on. Mr. Cain is not responsible for the first error. In my opinion, he is responsible for them when they continue to face palm. That affected my opinion.
Neither Mr. Cain nor his staff appeared to be able to handle any crisis, from the seconds of silence on Libya, the other policy issues, the allegations of sexual harassment, the Ginger White ‘friendship,’ or other issues. I need a President who can handle the crisis the country is in. If he can’t handle Ginger White, when he knew about her, or something as minor as his ineptitude at answering the Libya question, I had concerns about handling a major crisis. That was my judgment.
There were several Captain Queeg moments. When three days after the first Politico 'light-on-facts' story, Mr. Cain's chief of staff Mark Block identified Curt Anderson by name as the only person in the world who could have leaked the story to Politico and Mr. Cain backed him up – and the disclosure was accompanied by the statement that Anderson was identified through some kind of linear logic (not through a leak to Cain) – that was my first “people in the Cain campaign are wearing tinfoil hats” moment. There were others. It was my opinion.
So I made my decision. I was not an easy one.
When the first accusations came out in Politico, I am on record in FR as saying, multiple times, that I was suspending judgment until the facts were known and suggesting others do the same. I wrote that multiple times.
I admit I find it ironic that those who fled Mr. Cain are accused of failing to suspend judgment until the actual facts are known.
Each time an accusation against Cain appeared, or a new tweak in a different post, hundreds and hundreds of FR members who supported Mr. Cain immediately called his accusers "skanks," "sluts," "streetwalkers," and worse, and who said their charges were false because of the women's weight, hair style, amount of makeup, or facial pockmarks. To me, those sounded like people failing to suspend judgment until any facts were known. When I read posters state with Gospel conviction that all charges against Mr. Cain are baseless and that any idiot would know that in minute, it appears they have failed to suspend judgment until the actual facts are known.
Instead, if Mr. Cain says the charges were baseless? That will be immediately accepted as fact. There’s no suspension of judgment. There’s no waiting for facts. If Mr. Cain says there was no affair? Supporters of Mr. Cain weren’t going to suspend judgment. It was accepted as fact that THERE WAS NO AFFAIR. Anybody who suggested waiting until more facts came in was a Romney-bot or Perry-bot. And if the supporters of Mr. Cain first told us Ginger White was a complete liar (you know, in the interest of suspending judgment), but Mr. Cain later, in drips and drops, said she was a long-time friend, and that he’d given her money, and that his wife didn’t know about it, and that he’d spoken with her on the phone . . . each little disclosure was the final line in the sand (a judgment made without facts). Anybody who crossed it was a RINO, or a useful idiot. Until Mr. Cain made another disclosure and it was necessary to draw another line in the sand (a judgment made without facts). And then necessary to draw another line.
So. I chose to drop my support for Mr. Cain. There’s no need to go through my decision and try to pick it apart. I’m not trying to convince you or anyone else to drop their support for Mr. Cain. That’s a personal thing and anyone would be ill-advised to make a decision based on what I say. Research, research, research. And consider the source of information. But respect my decision and reconsider calling me all of those nasty names. Around a campfire, if we didn’t touch on this topic, we’d probably have a good time and you would be surprised at how conservative I am (and how creative we could get at saying nasty things about Mitt Romney).
If you insist on having an inquisition to ban those of us who dropped support for Mr. Cain from FR, please send me a private mail message and I’ll send you my schedule for the next two weeks so we can avoid conflicts. Unless this is one of those Star Chamber deals and my presence is not needed, because I’m not allowed to present evidence or to cross-examine those who testify against me.
I respect all of you even when I disagree with you. And goodness knows I need your help trying to find somebody to support now. Forgive me for sounding harsh, but realize that I'm reacting to some pretty harsh things written about people like me.
Herman Cain is smart and personable. I like him. But to borrow from the name for the cast of the original Saturday Night Live, I've decided he's Not Ready for Prime Time. I consider myself someone who made an agonized decision after research and long consideration, not a useful idiot of Axelrod or a white hooded pharisee, thanks.
One does not have to say nasty things about Mitt Rommney. One needs only to cite Mitt’s quotes and positions he has taken on issues. Also, one only needs to tell the truth about Mitt Rommney.