Cain can’t beat Obama
I got bent out of shape over his vote on an Obamacare bill but the ONLY one that I think that can beat O is Allen West, unfortunately it looks pretty much like he won’t run
I think Cain can pull it off and beat Obama, for several reasons:
1. He’s truly conservative, the way Reagan was. Unabashed, plain-talking, charismatic conservatism wins.
2. He doesn’t have pre-existing high negatives like Palin does.
3. He’s got Trump and Romney’s business sense, without the personal baggage, iffy conservative credentials and utter douchiness of The Donald, or the political wishy washiness of Romney.
4. He is first and foremost an American. That said, he realizes that his race WILL be made an issue, he can take it in stride by using phrases like “Dark horse” (pun intended) and “a REAL black man” running against Obama. I think this is a good balance. While I don’t want the campaign racialized, it will be, regardless, and Cain’s own race makes their attempts at playing the race card ridiculous, esp. since Cain himself can retort and play it right back at them.
5. He’s an interesting guy to listen to. He doesn’t bore you to death like Pawlenty or Santorum.
6. He has faith, but can walk that fine line between being a moral man of faith but not coming across like a televangelist (that’s you, Huckabee). He is more than acceptable to SoCons, yet, he can get a lot of support from the fiscal/Tea Party voters too.
7. He can get a little bit more of the black vote than any other Republican. Normally Republicans get 10%. John McCain got something like 5% against Obama. Unfortunately this is largely probably due to Obama’s race. Cain may be able to peel enough off enough to get 12 - 14%, but probably not much more. In close states with high black populations (VA, PA, FL, NC, LA, AR) this could make the difference between Obama winning and Cain winning.
(you’re right about West though, he could, but he won’t run).