Posted on 12/20/2010 6:02:12 PM PST by pissant
The first Republican to jump into the the 2012 presidential primary will probably be... former Godfather's Pizza CEO and current talk radio host Herman Cain. In a Friday interview with Greta Van Susteren, Cain confirmed he'd form an explatory committee "after the first of the year." He's been saying this for nearly a year. He told the Southern Republican Leadership Conference to "stay tuned" about a dark horse presidential candidate, and here's a video of him in June 2010 being pretty explicit about wanting to listen to the "grassroots" and run.
So: No experience in elected office (he lost a 2004 primary for U.S. Senate), no media interest yet apart from a seemingly daily commentary gig on Fox News. How seriously do we take this?
- Inside the Tea Party movement, Georgia, and conservative talk radio circles, Cain is a megastar. RedState.com (whose editor Erick Erickson is a city councilman in Macon, and who guest-hosts for Cain sometimes) is a fount of "Herman Cain porn,"* and Cain was invited to join the advisory board of Tea Party Patriots. (He declined, and this is probably why.)
- Cain's political awakening closely resembles that of Rick Scott, the incoming governor of Florida. In 1994, as the president of the National Restaurant Association, Cain had a lengthy tete-a-tete with Bill Clinton at a health care roundtable; Cain said Clinton's plans would quadruple his business's health care costs. The president disagreed. Cain came back later with data showing that Clinton's plan would quadruple the health care costs. Later, Jack Kemp remembered the exchange like this:
Here's a black guy who stands up with the voice of Othello, the looks of a football player, the English of Oxfordian quality and the courage of a lion.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
And BTW--Greta Van Susteren's has emerged as the best news program on TV. She's an excellent interviewer. She listens. She doesn't pontificate.
I was listening to the radio tonight, and heard one of those “get your financial house in order” commercials. It was Herman Cain, offering his book for free to the next 200 callers. He said he had decided to work to help people straighten up.
I was wondering if it was the same guy, so I looked it up, and it looks like it is. Interesting.
On the other hand, he’s never held elective office. President might be a big “first job”. On the other hand, he has run a major business, so it’s not like he’s entirely lacking in leadership skills like the current President.
She asks good, probing questions too. I think she's the best on Fox.
I do too. And Fox is BY FAR the best news channel on TV--and the only one on which you're likely to get the unadulterated truth.
Sometimes Greta says something I don't agree with, but then who doesn't? And sometimes she says something that's totally off the beam--but then who doesn't? (Even The Savage Beast has been known to do that. Rarely, of course.)
Rush is still the best. He's smart--upbeat--honest. He's meticulous about correcting his errors and mistatements. Yesterday he made a particularly keen observation: His critics constantly make ad hominem attacks but do not refute his arguments--and they don't even attempt to because they know they can't.
I like Sean Hannity very much.
Bill O'Reilly gets tedious. He pontificates. He doesn't listen to others on his show. And--most irritating of all--everyone else on his show appears fawning and/or deferential, as though he has power over them and they're intimidated by him. This is not only distracting and annoying, but I would like to know what they honestly think, and his bloviating interferes with this.
He was however commander of the armed forces first. Which is a public office, if not an elected one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.