And as for Cain's political chances, they were never really there. His knowledge and grasp of current political issues, the role of CinC and the Constitution all conspired to bring Cain down.
So there's your conspiracy.
It wasn't bimbo eruptions. There are very, very few folks who gave those credence...or even cared if they were true. Americans are generally desensitized to those sorts of revelations and attacks.
Cain simply didn't understand, or could not well articulate opinion on the Matters of the Nation.
9-9-9 was plain silly. No opinion on many of US National Security interests. Thinks the states should all have their own immigration policies/laws.
He was simply very likable and well intentioned.
He doesn’t think the states should all have their own immigration policies/laws. That was what the reporter put as the headline, but when Cain clarified his response in that very interview being reported on he said that the states should be enabled to enforce the current federal immigration policy if the feds refuse to do it.
It is so easy for misunderstandings to end up being the accepted story line, even when ill intent isn’t involved. This morning I read an article where it was claimed that White’s business partner had said she had a 13-year lesbian relationship with White. I looked at the source article and possibly because the idea had already been planted in my mind, I read the prepositional phrases wrong , as if the description applied to Vay when it really applied to Cain. And then what White said about Vay fit right in with the lesbian idea so I got it wrong. Didn’t realize it until somebody asked where the ABC article claimed that Vay was lesbian. I went back to find the place so I could blast the poster for poor reading skills (lol) and came back with egg on my face. All with the best intentions of being accurate. So it happens even when people are trying to be careful.
I do believe that the media has ill intent for Cain, though. I saw them butcher the reporting on Cain’s abortion views as well as his immigration views. Normal people could easily be confused or deceived regarding what Cain actually said/meant - especially with inaccurate headlines and articles that used the less-clear part of what Cain said rather than the part where he clarified exactly what he meant.
Cain may or may not be the best man for the job. We can argue that, and that’s what a primary is for. But the same people who will trot out false accusers will also write false headlines, censor out Cain’s clear statements, etc. And when they’re done butchering Cain they’ll do the same thing to Newt. Or to Romney. Or whoever. It’s just what they do. Somehow conservatives need to figure out a game plan to deal with the media’s hatchet jobs on whoever happens to be the “flavor of the day”.
Right now one of my big interests with Cain is to flip the bird at the liars who commit reputational terrorism.
One thing I like about Newt’s responses to all this is that he refuses to take his eyes off of Obama as the enemy, rather than his primary challengers as enemies. I like that. Of course, he could be having his proxies trot out the accusers so he can then be the “good cop” and only appear to be so compassionate. Like Obama said he “felt for” his opponent, right after Axelrod got a judge to unseal embarrassing divorce records; Axelrod did the dirty work and Obama got to stand there looking empathetic above the fray.
What this all reminds me of is how very, very much I despise politics. Mankind is such a fallen, ugly creature. I’ll plug my nose and vote for whoever I have to - anybody but Obama. But my overwhelming feeling right now is that we human beings are so pathetically stupid. It is truly a wonder that God hasn’t destroyed us all by now.
We need Frodo.