[truthfreedom]

“Karl Rove, I respect. Krauthammer, I have a lot of respect for — he’s one of the thoughtful conservatives out there,” Cain told The Daily Caller.

I called that praising. That’s what I saw. Rove = respect, Kraut = respect, thoughtful, conservative.

I would still say that is praising. I’m not talking about the whole article, just that sentence.

Rove and Krauthammer are not conservatives. They are enemies of conservatives. And Cain could’ve said they suck, but he said that he respects them.

[Brookhaven]

It's a simple rhetorical device, used when you want to criticise someone without making an enemy out of them.

Rove and Krauthammer are wrong.
vs. I respect Rove and Krauthammer, but they're wrong.

Cain is showing good rhetorical skills. It's been shown over and over again that if you just bluntly criticise someone they will simply hunker down and harden their position (even if they know their position is 100% wrong).

If you praise someone (it doesn't even have to be related to the issue at hand), then lay down the exact same criticism you have a better chance of pulling them over to your side.

I've read your stuff here; you often make great points in your posts, but the fact that you don't recognize common rhetorical skills probably says more about your shortcommings than it does about Cain's.

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