Explaining last gaffe, Cain stumbles again

The Hill ^ | 11/18/11 | Jonathan Easley

[mdittmar]

GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain committed another potentially damaging foreign policy gaffe on Friday, when he inferred that the Taliban posed a threat to the Libyan government.

Speaking at a press conference in Orlando, Cain was defending his performance in front of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s editorial board earlier this week, in which he searched for words and sat in awkward silence after being asked if he agreed with the Obama administration’s policy towards Libya.

“Do I agree with siding with the opposition? Do I agree with saying that Qadhafi should go? Do I agree that they now have a country where you've got Taliban and Al Qaeda that's going to be part of the government?” Cain asked reporters. “Do I agree with not knowing the government was going to — which part was he asking me about? I was trying to get him to be specific and he wouldn't be specific.”

The Taliban is an Islamist militant group based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while Libya is in northern Africa.

It’s the latest in a series of foreign policy stumbles for the candidate.

In October, Cain said it wasn’t important to know who was “the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-stan.” And in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel interview, Cain said he couldn’t recall Obama’s position on Libya because he had “all of this stuff twirling around in my head.”

Cain has responded to the criticism by saying he would surround himself with worthwhile advisers to help him out with foreign policy, and that voters didn’t expect him to know everything because “we need a leader, not a reader.”

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[Smokin' Joe]

The taliban are associated with the new Libyan government.

Yep. The Muslim Brotherhood ties AlQaida, Hizb'allah, and Hamas into the the new Libyan mix, to name a few.

[Yooper4Life]

That is exactly how I saw that part of the interview too.

[MHGinTN]

Fortunately, conservatives generally see through the deceit of the democrat fifth column media. Herman Cain has more substance than the media want him to have, so they make up lies to try and raise his negatives in polls. They care not a whit about the man or his conservatism because they work for a certain master who is a known father of lies.

[CAluvdubya]

Johnathan Easley is an idiot....Cain is right about this.

[caww]

Obama has the bar set so low that comparing Cain to Obama in anyway or fashion makes Cain look Worse. Better to compare Cain to the candidates he’s up against now.

[caww]

Cain doesn’t need any handlers,he is doing fine.

He's not doing fine, and need them or not he does have them.

[caww]

Most Conservatives should at least respect that whether they support him or not.

Most conservatives do respect that....but being a supposedly successful businessman doesn't necessarily mean one is suited well for President...and that's what the primary is about...who is and who isn't and those who fall inbetween.