[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.

Nerds 4 Cain is in beta testing: www.nerds4cain.com

[truthfreedom]

Your argument is but 1 possible explanation of why Cain said what he said.

And another is that he is simply is an establishment Republican.

I see him praising Rove and Krauthammer. I don’t feel that I have to go out of my way to try to come up with the most Cain-friendly explanation for this.

I will say that both explanations have merit as do others.