Posted on 10/02/2011 3:00:31 PM PDT by Baladas
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Sunday that he should not have stayed silent after the audience at a GOP debate booed a gay soldier serving in Iraq.
The Georgia businessman told ABC's "This Week" that it would have been "appropriate" for him to have defended the soldier. None of the candidates on stage at the Sept. 22 forum responded to the boos.
"In retrospect, because of the controversy it has created and because of the different interpretations that it could have had, yes, that probably — that would have been appropriate," Cain said, when asked if he should have asked the audience to respect the soldier.
Cain said it wasn't immediately clear to him what had drawn the audience's scorn, adding, "I happen to think that maybe they were booing the whole 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal more so than booing that soldier."
The so-called don't ask, don't tell policy barring gays from serving openly in the military was officially lifted last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Cain's Director of Communications resigned yesterday as did his Assistant Director of Communications, and his new Director of Communications unofficially took over for him as of yesterday I believe. (The official announcement of Gordon's addition was supposed to be this Monday but appears to be out on the net now.) His name is J.D. Gordon, and he used to do public relations when he served in the military, therefore you will see him associated with Donald Rumsfeld as he was working under Donald Rumsfeld's command when Donald Rumsfeld was Defense Secretary under G.W. Bush. When Gordon retired from service a couple years back, he started a PR business, and some of his new consultation work included advising and coordinating events for Sarah Palin as of late. He accepted Cain's job offer to work as his Director of Communications, and that is the change that occurred yesterday in his campaign staff.
Yep, I knew that sooner or later, another conservative would squirm on the pedestal they’ve been put on, and a crowd of conservatives would be all over him/her! Good grief, would some people on here give the man a little more time?
They don’t have to support him if they don’t want to. However, let the rest of us decide for ourselves if he’s worth supporting if we want to! tsk, tsk.. He’ll learn; he’ll have to. I hope he does! I’m leaning toward voting for him, but he’s not the only one I’m considering.
I like a lot of things I’m seeing and hearing about him! He not superhuman, and he’s going to make political mistakes sometimes! I do understand that because he’s black, he’s going to have a different perspective than some of the other candidates. However, I’m trying not to look at the ‘black’ about him, and only look at him as a contender in his own right. I’m trying to look at him as if he were Perry, Romney, Bachman, Palin, etc.. Not just because he is black!
That’s an interesting aspect, but I want to see what he’s going to bring to the contest. What will he bring to the WH if he were to be our nominee/or eventual President! In other words, as if he were a white guy/gal!
He has also explicitly stated that he would "work with" the existing policy (open homosexuality in the military) if elected, not repeal it.
“In this case how do you separate the two?”
Because most people don’t care what people do in private, they simply don’t like having to deal with it in public and also don’t want to make it an issue fought out in the military? Just a guess.
I believe the choices at the time were:
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee
John McCain
Of those three, in '08, which is the better choice?
Here is another of those hazy areas with Cain in which he seems to indicate he supports a gay military and, who knows, also gay unions and marriages?
Cain now has too many liberal positions to be seen as a conservative: squishy on life, pro-gun control by states, pro-gays in the military, pro-extra taxes, and I’ve heard, pro-affirmative action (but can’t prove it.)
Cain is not an option. He’s off the list of conservatives.
Cain now has too many liberal positions to be seen as a conservative: squishy on life, pro-gun control by states, pro-gays in the military, pro-extra taxes, and I’ve heard, pro-affirmative action (but can’t prove it.)
PURE BS.
How do folks run around spreading manure and somehow think there are doing anyone any good. Make the case for your candidate, but don't make up BS.
wagglebee-- please take me off your ping list if this is the way you get info.
1. Cain would not sign pro-life pledge. Had some sort of squishy explanation about not liking the wording.
2. Pro state gun control. There’s a thread on Free Republic in which he is quoted saying that to Wolf Blitzer. The supremacy clause says the 2d amendment is not a state power.
3. Pro new taxes: wants to add a national sales tax as part of 999 without FIRST repealing 16th amendment. It’s simple math. One more tax = additional tax.
4. Affirmative action: Once said he supports affirmative action but not specific quotas.
“Pandering to the left will cause you to lose potential support very quickly.”
You are absolutely correct, Jim.
I have just been turned off by his statement.
Should he become president, this means he will continue to welcome these perverts into our military.
Very bad news indeed.
What a fool.
He’s off my list as well. Thank you for sharing your insights, dear brother in Christ!
I remember we took a lot of heat from some Cain supporters for criticizing his not signing the Pro-Life pledge. It seems he always leaves some wiggle room. I expect more from a conservative candidate.
Everyone wants to gloss over the social issues this election cycle and just focus on the financial issues. I hope the fiscal conservatives can appreciate it when social conservatives find no desire to work for a candidate, or vote for one, that hesitates on affirming his Pro-Life commitment. I have no desire to support a candidate that I can't be sure really represents my view on Life.
Yeah, I should of said “faggot maggot” and “wimpy flipfloppy” LOL
No matter what you should have said, it’s still creepy and weirdly obsessive.
In most cases that's true about focusing on fiscal concerns, except with Cain. He gets a complete pass on wanting to add a sales tax and then use "education" to get everyone else to eventually see the need for the repeal of the 16th, and even for his 9% flat income tax.
Anyone who knows how Congress works knows that is a snowball's chance in hell. So we end up with an entirely new tax on top of what we've got until some day in the sweet-bye-and-bye when "educated" legislators give some future president the income tax he dreams of.
The bottom line is we've got those fiscal guys agreeing to an extra tax. That is who "fiscals" always have been. They don't care how the budget balances, just so long as no more money goes out than comes in.
In theory it sounds great, but the "cuts" are always supposed to come out of someone else's pocket. I think your analysis about Cain's 999 is spot on. Deductions are eliminated and then we hear how unfair it is and the rates have to go up.
I figured early on with Cain it was a lack of experience running for office and he would clarify his positions. It hasn't happened.
Now we get the nonsense about the gay soldier and the lack of support for Perry on the race issue. It's very frustrating to watch these guys miss great opportunities to stand united. The Pubs have a great opportunity. obama overreached and liberalism is on the ballot. If Cain had any political savvy he would have come out in support for Santorum and Pubs in general instead of the gay soldier junk and he would have shot down the reporter on the Perry is a racist crap.
Had Cain done that a lot of Pubs would have sat up and taken notice. Instead he played the intolerance card and the race card. If I want that kind of stuff I would vote for a Rat.
Backpedaled on the Race Card fiasco ...Said he wouldn’t appoint a Muslim to his cabinet and then said he meant IF said Muslim was a “ jihadist “ ( Duh ! ) ...Gay Card ...Said he wouldn’t support Perry if he won the nomination ...I have had it with Cain The Pain . Quit his online team .
Has anyone actually checked out who this gay soldier really is? Don’t put it past the gays to pull some cheap stunt to further their cause. Is the name he used really his? Is he now or has he ever been a soldier? We shouldn’t ever take them at their word.
I’m getting tired of liberal sources trying to destroy Republicans, one Republican at a time, and will reserve judgment until after I get the whole story, without the liberal spin.
“The media is sabotaging Cain, ..”
As they will with all of the Republicans, who have a shot at winning the nomination.
However, they give Romney a pass. I think we know why.
“Where’s a good Fiscally and Socially Conservative supposed to go?”
Bachmann and Santorum (Palin if she decides to run) are social and fiscal conservatives.
None of them are perfect, but NO candidate is.
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