Posted on 05/29/2011 7:33:20 AM PDT by kingattax
ith Mitch Daniels' official removal of his name from the list of potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates, the political buzz intensifies as to who will have the best shot of beating President Obama in next year's election.
Who indeed, as the list of candidates not running gets longer?
How about Citizen Cain? He should at least make things interesting through the primary election.
Who am I talking about? Herman Cain, former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza, officially announced his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination a week ago.
In September Cain first announced he was considering a run for president. And on May 5 he was one of five potential candidates who participated in a Fox News presidential campaign debate. Cain was declared the winner over Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul, Gary E. Johnson and Rick Santorum.
Cain is proving to be a favorite among tea party activists. Last year he spoke at more than 40 tea party events. He has never held elective office.
Cain, 65, was born in Memphis, Tenn., and raised in Georgia. He lives in the suburbs of Atlanta today. He graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in mathematics and received a master's in computer science from Purdue in 1971. While at Purdue he also worked full-time in ballistics for the U.S. Department of the Navy. From there he went to work for Coca-Cola as a business analyst. He was hired by Pillsbury in 1977, and rose in the ranks with successes at Pillsbury subsidiaries Burger King and Godfather's Pizza.
In 1988, Cain and other investors bought Godfather's from Pillsbury. Cain continued as CEO until 1996, when he resigned to become CEO of the National Restaurant Association.
Cain became a member of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 1992 and served as its chairman 1995-96. He resigned to get involved in national politics.
He has been an Atlanta radio talk-show host, writes a newspaper column and has authored four books. He also ran for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2004.
He has a comprehensive website, www.hermancain.com, that outlines his background and his political positions. It also includes several videos that give you a sense of how he carries himself before the public.
“The Hermanator” has a strong conservative platform, but he's not perfect. When he launched his campaign last week, he said, “We need to reread the Constitution,” and referred to “a little section in there that talks about ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' ” Of course, that little section is from the Declaration of Independence.
He's also shown he needs to bone up on foreign policy. And he made a controversial statement that he would not have a Muslim in his Cabinet.
Cain may not be perfect, but his stock is growing in the GOP.
The only question in my mind is when/whether she makes the decision that the price her family pays for her running is worth the price America pays if she doesn't run.
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