Posted on 05/21/2011 6:16:51 AM PDT by PSYCHO-FREEP
A new IBOPE Zogby poll shows Atlanta businessman Herman Cain vaulting into the No. 1 front-runner position among active candidates as the choice to win the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
Cain, a longtime Pillsbury executive who later became chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, was the preferred choice of 14 percent of the likely Republican primary voters polled.
His showing placed second only to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who got 17 percent. Christie, however, has insisted repeatedly that he will not be running for president in 2012. Ron Paul placed third with 10 percent, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who had 9 percent.
Pollster John Zogby told Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview that the sudden rise of Cain shows the degree of restlessness among GOP faithful, given their current options.
“He’s not well known. He’s very plain speaking,” Zogby said. “But when someone enters the forum, as he did during that debate, and rises to the top, it’s kind of like Donald Trump, it’s kind of like Chris Christie: “We don’t like the field, this is a guy that we can believe in.’”
Cain was considered the winner of the recent Fox News debate held in South Carolina. His memorable applause line came when a panelist pointed out that he lacked experience holding public office. Cain pointed out that almost everyone elected to national office in Washington, D.C., had prior public service experience.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Christie must be doing something right, he is hated HATED by the liberals. Budgets cuts for liberals is like cutting them off from crack cocaine - they get crazy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/17/chris-christie-gets-booed_n_863181.html
See #204...it’s not just reflective of how poorly the MSM polling tools put together their polls. The people really are under a strong delusion.
It’s important to realize that conservatives like us who gather on sites like FR and others, are in an echo chamber. Outside of this forum, the country is full of very foolish & easily duped people.
Having said that does not mean we are allowed to give up. We must still work to stand for what is right & righteous.
LOL!!
Herman Cain is an excellent Establishment, Elite candidate, who is also conservative.
He was the Chairman of the Kansas City Fed. Those are nice Elite, Establishment credentials, and I think he would appeal to the country club set who are looking for those Elite, Establishment credentials.
“I’m not sure who has and who hasn’t officially announced.”
That was my quote.
I know Palin’s status, but it’s not relevant. Right now some candidates are officially announced, some have exploratory committees, etc etc. I only pay attention when someone says they’re definitely not running.
You missed my point about limited time and resources.
We, or other candidates, etc, have limited time and resources. We would be wasting our time scouting a #15 seed, to use the same basketball analogy as before, when the #2 seed is almost certain to beat the #15 seed.
Point being, it’s logical to assume that the toughest person to beat, Palin, will be running. So, you make preparations, you analyze, based on the most likely outcome. She’s the #1 seed.
When you go forward, you have to make those assumptions, just as a starting place for analysis. And the most reasonable one is that Palin will run.
I agree with that and will raise you at least 40%. The current Black American has surprized a lot of people lately.
Is there anything to this supposed Herman “falling on his face” on FNC that a certain Freeper spoke of earlier?
Cain is the son of a limo driver, he never went to Harvard like Obama, he worked through college and in the Navy and up the ladder in corporate America, breaking some glass ceilings along the way.
If becoming a success in life is now ‘elite’, then yes we need an ‘elite’ of that sort, someone who works hard, thinks well, can lead, and rose on his merits.
His stint at the Fed is a feather in his cap for anyone other than those with Fed-phobia. He knows business and industry and know what govt policies create jobs and those that kill jobs. Dismissing Cain over that is like dismissing Reagan because he was once a union leader.
But Cain has spoken at more Tea Party rallies than country club events, and has been forthright and very non-squishy in his approach.
The ‘ideal’ candidate would be a unifying candidate who can appeal to both wings (TP and Establishment). The “establishment” is looking for someone ‘electable’. TP side wants real fiscal and constitutional conservative cred. We shall see if Cain performs well enough to get over that combined hurdle. In my view ... yes he Cain.
I just watched Herman Cain on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.
He made a strong case for he Fair Tax which would completely abolish income tax and the IRS. It would take a big step toward breaking the nanny state's strangle hold on our lives! Under the Fair Tax, you pay tax on what you buy--not on what you make, so you are more in control. It even provides a tax break for those in poverty.
When asked what he would offer the Palestinians, Cain said, "Nothing, because I'm not convinced that the Palestinians want to make peace." Wow! What a breath of fresh air honesty! In my opinion, he nailed it. If the Palestinians truly wanted peace, all they would have to do is stop attacking Israel! Then there would be peace.
I must admit, however, that he seemed to stumble when asked about the "Palestinian right of return." He didn't seem to know what the issue was.
When asked what he would do about Afghanistan, Cain frankly admitted that he doesn't know what he would do about Afghanistan because he doesn't have the intelligence information on which to make a decision. I think that was an honest response. It stands out in sharp contrast to Obama's campaign in which he made all kinds of stupid foreign policy proclamations only to find out when he got into office that things were much more complicated than he had imagined and that he could not do what he had promised (like closing Gitmo, or an immediate pull-out of Iraq).
My concerns about Herman Cain are his lack of experience with Washington DC cut-throat politics and his lack of foreign policy knowledge--though I heard him say that he knows enough about foreign policy to know that you don't throw your friends under the bus! That all by itself puts him ahead of our current President on foreign policy!
To answer your question about the poster in question, the poster is a complete demagogue. The so called "stumble" was not only highly exaggerated, it was downright dishonest.
Right, I’m arguing that the FED on his resume is a strong resume bullet especially for those who are pro-elite, or are pro-establishment.
There are definitely Republicans out there, who believe that going to certain schools, having certain jobs, prestigious ones, makes you more qualified. I would go straight to those people with Cain and the Kansas City Fed job. Yes, we’re in agreement, the Fed job is an awesome elite job. The University of Chicago might’ve made a mistake with Obama, but the Fed does not make mistakes like that. The Fed does not hire people unless they’re very very comfortable with them. I’m just saying that the Romney people, the Pawlenty people, the Daniels people, would be very impressed with the Fed job.
About elite:
Chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve = ELITE
Owner of Godfather’s Pizza = SUCCESSFUL
I’d say that Cain is an Elite Candidate that can appeal, based on his words, to Tea Party Conservatives. And, based on his resume, which is similar to Romney’s except for failed Mass Governor, he should be able to appeal to other Elites.
Methinks you are trying too hard to press a point home that isn’t valid. The Establishment does NOT CARE what job Cain did or had. just as they dont care what job Palin did. the questions they ask are ‘can he win?’ and ‘is he one of us?’ they are skeptical on both sides.
Cain’s appeal has nothing to do with his Fed job experience ( a short stint) and much more to do with his business success, his faith and his strong convictions.
Those will carry him far.
I’m not really talking about “the establishment”, more the type of person who would mention right away, in a positive light, when a candidate graduated from Harvard Law or Yale Law. Establishment voters look for elite credentials. They look for stamps of approval from elites. And Herman Cain really has those credentials which would appeal to establishment voters. The language he uses is designed to appeal to tea party voters, but his resume appeals to establishment voters.
Governor Sarah Palin according to the Gallup polls now has a 71% approval rating with republicans AND republican leaning indys. Her approval is higher than any other GOP potential candidate. If all these people that constantly say “I love Sarah but I don’t think she can win” would get behind her instead of saying “I want to go with who I think will be the WINNER” instead of what is right for this country...if they would get behind her than you would see a totally different campaign. With Congressman Allen West or Herman Cain as her VP choice....I guarantee Mr. Obama would be a one term president.
Her record in Alaska with working with democrats without compromising her conservative principles is what got her an 85% approval rating in her first year. She took on and beat an incumbent governor even though she was told it was a losing strategy. She beat him by 31.5%...51,443 votes to 19,412!!! Gov. Sarah Palin has what it takes to beat Mr. Obama. She’s the ONLY one that does!!!
I saw Cain w/ Chris Wallace and was very impressed by how sharp he is, and how polished he is. He can really cut through the crap. I think he is going to be the type who can appeal to a WIDE variety of voters, not just conservatives, not just independents ...the man might even sway a few moderate dems.
Definitely knows WHO he is ...and WE know who he is, which is a far better deal than WHATEVER occupies the WH at the moment. The man undoubtedly has executive skills and ability. It’s what we SO desperately need.
There are a LOT of great contenders here. If some don’t end up running, like Christie, or Daniels, for example ...all the better. We need good people in all locations ...local and state levels to turn this place around. The main thing is — get the Conservatives IN — everywhere.
And who’s the best at doing that? .... I think we all know.
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.