Republican Cain joins U.S. Senate race facing east Cobb Rep. Isakson

Marietta Daily Journal ^ | March 9, 2004 | David Burch

[Veritas_est]

Republican Cain joins U.S. Senate race facing east Cobb Rep. Isakson

Tuesday, March 9, 2004 4:00 AM EST E-mail this story to a friend | Printable version

By David Burch

Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

MARIETTA - An African- American Republican with no prior political experience, U.S. Senate candidate Herman Cain said he sees his status as a Washington outsider as a virtue rather than a drawback headed into the July 20 Republican primary.

"I'm in a position to challenge the status quo," Cain, who worked most recently as chairman and CEO of the national chain Godfather's Pizza, said Monday during a meeting with the Marietta Daily Journal editorial board.

He said his life story as someone who rose from a poor upbringing in Atlanta to graduate from Morehouse College and be a successful businessman also "represents all that's right in America."

"I'm someone that believes that you can achieve whatever you want to achieve in this country as long as you are willing to work hard," he said.

Cain, who lives in the south metro suburb of McDonough, faces three fellow Republicans for the party's nomination - U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-east Cobb), U.S. Rep. Mac Collins (R-Jackson) and Al Bartell, a businessman and corporate trainer from Cartersville who ran for lieutenant governor in 2002.

Democratic state Sen. Mary Squires from Norcross has also announced her plans to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Zell Miller on the Democratic ticket.

Now retired, Cain worked for 35 years as an executive for companies like Godfather's, Pillsbury, Burger King and Coca-Cola.

During his time as an executive, Cain also worked behind the scenes to support Republican causes - an effort that helped forge his political ideology but which he said had little impact on public policy.

"For all these years, I've been working on these issues from outside the system and what happened? Nothing," he said. "That was the frustration."

As for choosing to run for U.S. Senate rather than attempt running for a lower, more accessible position in government, Cain said, "I wanted to run for the office that I felt would have the biggest impact on the issues that I care about."

Topping his list of issues, Cain said he would like to reform the tax code to replace all forms of income tax with a national sales tax.

He also said he would like to replace the current Social Security system with personal savings accounts and revamp to Medicare system to lower costs and cut down the government's role in administering the program.

On social issues, Cain said he is against abortion except when the life of the mother is endangered. He also is for a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages.

Conservative, Republican ideology has not been the norm for African-American candidates or voters, the vast majority of whom have historically supported the Democratic Party.

Cain said he realizes the novelty of a black Republican running for statewide office and also acknowledged that his political affiliation will likely make him the target of name-calling by some fellow blacks as the Senate race moves forward.

Cain said he officially registered with the Republican Party in 1996 after years as an independent.

He said he gravitated to the party, rather than becoming a Democrat like most other African-Americans, in part because, "I looked beyond just the struggle for social justice and started looking for economic opportunities."

When it comes to individual issues, Cain said most African- Americans tend to side with the conservative point of view.

But most vote Democratic, in large part Cain said to the influence of "self-appointed black leaders" who he said have become "irrelevant."

"A lot of people are still stuck in the 50s and 60s," he said. "They still think it's about achieving social justice."

Cain said he expects his campaign to gain about 20 percent of the black vote, about twice the percentage that supported President George W. Bush during the 2000 election.

He said he sees most of that support coming from African- Americans like himself.

"It's going to be the people who are working corporate America, who are reading the fine print and not just listening to the rhetoric," he said.

dburch@mdjonline.com

[Veritas_est]

Get on board little children,
There's room for many more.

[EternalVigilance]

If I was a Georgian, there is no doubt that Herman would have my vote.

He certainly has my hearty endorsement.

[EternalVigilance]

BTTT...

[Conservateacher]

DITTO!!!!

[azcap]

I sent Cain some money a while back. This guy is the real deal. He is the Anti-RINO. Have any of you Georgians seen poll numbers on this race. Does he have a chance ofgetting the nomination?

[Paul8148]

I think One of the Congressman is leading but it early.

[Paul8148]

It is Isakton who is leading but the other congressman has threw some real fire bombs his way so fall and his numbers drop alittle but Cain pick it up.

[georgia peach]

Right now ,Cain is the only one in Georgia who has ads on TV and roadside signs. He's an appealing figure.

[JohnnyZ]

Have any of you Georgians seen poll numbers on this race. Does he have a chance ofgetting the nomination?

There have been no public polls since November(!) He does have a shot; how much of one is difficult to tell. The primary's not until July. If the next poll that comes out shows: A) Cain in double digits and B) Isakson under 50% then Cain has a decent shot.

[Principled]

Topping his list of issues, Cain said he would like to reform the tax code to replace all forms of income tax with a national sales tax.

I hope this issue is brought into the public eye a bunch this fall. There are a lot of pols running on this issue- it has proven to be a winner.

[eddie willers]

If I was a Georgian, there is no doubt that Herman would have my vote.

I am a Georgian....and he does.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Just for a reminder, when is the Georgia Republican Primary?

By the way, I plan on voting for Cain.

[EternalVigilance]

Excellent!

Y'all are in my prayers.

The country needs Mr. Cain in the Senate.

I wish I could come down to help...I'm prepared to do so right now...but so far his campaign manager doesn't seem to think he needs me currently.

[Principled]

Where does one obtain a Cain for Senate T-shirt?

[Veritas_est]

EternalVigilance, "If I was a Georgian, there is no doubt that Herman would have my vote.
He certainly has my hearty endorsement."

If any of you know any one in Georgia encourage them to vote for Herman Cain.

Conservaeacher, "DITTO!!!!"

DITTO. Contact everyone you know in Georgia and tell them about Herman Cain.

azcap, "I sent Cain some money a while back." . . . "Does he have a chance of getting the nomination?"

Money is the only other way for people out of state to help elect Herman Cain.

There is no doubt that Johnny Isakson is in the lead in the polls. However, he is the RINO and the other two who are in the running, Mac Collins and Herman Cain, are conservatives. Isakson started the race with a large war chest and remains ahead in money raised, but during the three months of the last reporting period, Cain raised more money than Isakson and nearly twice as much as Collins.

There will almost surely be a runoff between Isakson and the conservative with the most votes. Either Collins or Cain should be able to beat Isakson in a two man race.

Collins has a good conservative voting record, but with all of his experience he has failed to build the coalitions necessary to force some issues through. He votes right, but he just isn't proactive enough.

Cain is accustomed to recognizing problems and then is capable of doing whatever is necessary to solve them. He is every bit as conservative as Collins and maybe more. I get the feeling that Cain's conservatism is more heartfelt than Collins' is. For sure Cain is better at articulating the problem and the solution.

I believe we will see Cain win over Isakson in a runoff when all of the true conservatives get behind one candidate.

[Veritas_est]

Principled, I don't know if they have any Teeshirts left right now. They go about as fast as they can get them. However, someone at campaign headquarters can answer your question. Here is all of the contact information for the campaign.

Cain for US Senate
5300 Frontage Road, Suite A
Forest Park, Georgia 30297
(404) 366-8101
(404) 366-8102 FAX
info@cainforussenate.org
http://www.cainforussenate.org/home.asp

[Veritas_est]

The Georgia Primary is July 20th, and in the event of a runoff I think it will be August 10th.

[Principled]

Thank you Veritas_est! I will do what I can for Mr. Cain. I've seen him speak on the Fair Tax and hope he can pull it off - or at a minimum force tax reform to the forefront...

[phil_will1]

"I've seen him speak on the Fair Tax and hope he can pull it off - or at a minimum force tax reform to the forefront..."

Interestingly enough, all 3 frontrunners have supported the FairTax to varying degrees. Mac Collins for years refused to take a public stand, saying that his position on the Ways & Means Committee required him to remain neutral on such issues. His wife privately told FairTax supporters that he was with them. Johnny Isakson for several years preferred to support the sunset bill which, he said, would force a debate on FTR. He expressed concerns about the FairTax's impact on the real estate market but when asked what his basis was, he could only respond that the 86 TRA caused the commercial real estate market recession and S&L crisis in the late 1980s. He finally signed onto the FairTax bill last September. Many of us suspect it was out of political expediency, since the FairTax proposal is becoming known and supported in Ga, rather than genuine conviction. Much of his campaign contributions come from the real estate industry and those people think they have such a great deal with the current code that they can't imagine changing.

In short, if one were to rank the 3 frontrunners for Ga's senate seat based on their level of support for the FairTax and FTR, it would be
1. Herman Cain
2. Mac Collins
3. Johnny Isakson

I spoke with one of Mr. Cain's campaign people a week or so ago and he pointed out that Mr. Cain is doing quite a bit better than Mr. Collins in the money race. They are therefore positioning him as the conservative alternate to Mr. Isakson who, as another poster pointed out, is viewed as a RINO here in Ga. Mr. Cain has an uphill battle because his two principle opponents have been US congressmen in Georgia for some time and began the campaign with much greater name recognition. However, the Cain campaign has been the only one running ads so far (that I have seen, anyway) and he is an extremely dynamic and energetic personality - much more so than either Mr. Isakson or Mr. Collins. I think we have a good chance for an upset - and it would send a clear message that FTR is a winning issue.

Regardless of the outcome, Georgia will still have two senators who support the FairTax proposal, at least to some degree. Jim DeMint seems to be running hard on the issue in our neighboring state of SC, even though the FairTax proposal isn't nearly as well known there. Even Richard Shelby, from our neighbor on the other side, Alabama, was recently quoted as saying that he would prefer a sales tax, even though he is a longtime supporter and sponsor of the Flat Tax legislation in the senate. Shelby's conversion would probably have quite a bit of clout within Alabama's congressional delegation.

[phil_will1]

"Mac Collins for years refused to take a public stand, saying that his position on the Ways & Means Committee required him to remain neutral on such issues."

BTW, Charlie Rangel has also been on W&M for some time and that never stopped him from bashing the proposal every chance he got. FairTaxers therefore considered Mr. Collins position on our issue a cop-out. Now that there is enough support, he wants to be our advocate in the senate. As Congressman Linder has stated, most of these guys are followers, not leaders. I think Herman Cain stands out in that regard.