Herman Cain, get in there !! You are a contender, a few more rounds and you have this sewn up ...
Posted on 10/03/2011 2:33:27 AM PDT by Kaslin
Is Herman Cain a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination? It's a question no one in the pundit world was asking until the past week.
Cain has never held public office. When he ran for the Senate in Georgia in 2004, he lost the primary by a 52 percent to 26 percent margin.
He has zero experience in foreign or defense policy, where presidents have the most leeway to set policy. When questioned about the Middle East earlier this year, he clearly had no idea what the "right of return" is.
His solid performance in the Fox News/Google debate Sept. 22 didn't get pundits to take his chances seriously.
Neither did his 37 percent to 15 percent victory over Rick Perry in the Florida straw poll on Sept. 24. That was taken as a response to Perry's weak debate performance and a tribute to Cain for showing up and speaking before the 2,657 people who voted.
But Republicans around the nation seem to have responded the same way. The Fox News poll conducted Sept. 25 to 27 showed Cain with 17 percent of the vote -- a statistically significant jump from the 5 percent he had been averaging in polls taken in previous weeks.
And a SurveyUSA poll of Florida Republicans conducted Sept. 24 to 27 showed Cain trailing Mitt Romney by only 27 percent to 25 percent -- a statistical tie. That's very different from the Florida polls conducted by Public Policy Polling Sept. 22 to 25 and Quinnipiac Sept. 14 to 19, both of which showed Cain with 7 percent.
We will see whether other national or state polls show Cain with a similar surge. If so, then there's a real possibility that Cain could win enough primaries and caucuses to be a real contender.
That possibility is already being taken seriously by The Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henninger. Henninger argued in a Sept. 29 column that Cain's success in business -- engineering turnarounds in Burger King's Philadelphia stores and Godfather's Pizza nationally -- made him a plausible candidate.
"Unlike the incumbent," Henninger wrote, "Herman Cain has at least twice identified the causes of a large failing enterprise, designed goals, achieved them and by all accounts inspired the people he was supposed to lead."
Cain's business success, his "9-9-9" tax plan, his generally conservative stands on issues, the YouTube clip showing him debating Bill Clinton on health care in 1994 -- all of these help account for his apparent surge in the polls.
But I suspect there are a couple of other factors. One is likeability. Romney's attempts at ingratiation are awkward, and Perry's charm is lost on most non-Texans. But Cain is, as the Atlantic's liberal analyst Chris Good concedes, "undeniably likeable."
Another thing going for him is race. White conservatives like to hear black candidates who articulate their views and will vote for them: Check out Rep. Tim Scott of Charleston, S.C.
In this, white conservatives resemble white liberals, who liked hearing Barack Obama articulate their views and were ready to vote for him, too. This is what Joe Biden was getting at with his awkward 2007 comment that Obama was a "clean" black candidate.
White moderates are ready to support black candidates, too, as Obama showed in the 2008 general election.
Cain claims that he could get one-third of the black vote in a general election. There's no way to rigorously test that.
But it finds some support in Scott Rasmussen's polls, which have been regularly pitting 10 current or possible candidates against Obama. Rasmussen finds Romney ahead by 2 percent and Chris Christie trailing by 1 percent. The other candidate closest to Obama, trailing by 5 percent, is Cain.
Moreover, Cain holds Obama to the lowest share of the vote, 39 percent, of any of the 10 Republicans. That may be because some black voters desert Obama when Cain is the opponent.
Further support can be found in the Low Country of South Carolina, where Scott won with 65 percent of the vote in 2010 in a district where John McCain won just 56 percent and where 20 percent of the population is black. No other Republican freshmen in the Old South ran so far ahead of McCain.
All this speculation may be getting far ahead of the facts. Cain still has significant liabilities as a candidate and could make a disqualifying mistake any time. But he's beginning to look like a contender.
I don't know about his hiring experience, but anyone who's spent much time in the corporate world, especially in the mid to upper levels, and was successful, has to be adept with politics.
But, he is inexperienced in this arena, and it shows. Only Gingrich and possibly Romney have earned the "been there and done that" qualification.
None the less, if Cain continues to improve, his business background and his lack of political office experience will be seen as major assets.
Personally, I'm way past tired of professional liars (aka Lawyers) and two faced politicians holding political office for decades. I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way.
And, IMO, if Palin doesn’t get in and run a good campaign, we’re in real trouble anyway.
I share that opinion, but if and until she does...
"Herman Cain’s candidacy shakes the very foundation of the liberal house of cards."
Obviously, compared to the current occupier of the office, Herman Cain is not qualified to even run for election. /s
And he co-chaired Steve Forbes presidential run and I respected him but yesterday he played the race card — the most vile political thuggery I know of.
Beginning to look like, I think the man is going the distance, it will be fun watching the democraps , when they lose the race card.
No, Herman Cain is the latest fad and a sign that people are not that thrilled with anyone running right now.
There are many, many negatives yet to come out on Herman.
I like him but he really disappointed me with his unwarranted attack on Perry about an issue he should have laughed at. Or at the very least been non-committal as in, ‘I don’t know enough about the story to comment.’
The truth is in every single article out there. Most people are smart enough to read it themselves, and those who are too dumb to understand will be voting for Obama anyway.
Oh wow, I am devistated by the brilliance of that insult. LOL!
You know it was going to happen anyway. Its better to have Cain do it and get this story out in the open and behind Perry now, rather than wait until Perry was nominated and having Obama do it well into the election.
It does sound like it is a non-story, and I’m glad it is. And I’m not even a Perry fan.
Chill! I posted and was asking for imput. Yes, I do LOVE Cain, but we have been dupped before and any one with any ties to the Fed should be questioned. I do not know what a Class C member is, but I do think that if a person has ties to the Fed, he may be connected to the Globalists that I am very oppossed to.
Thank you for the info and I will continue to watch and learn what i can. Do remember barry had great charisma and many D’s were sucked in. Right now I have no idea who to trust and will continue to verify and post questions.
I suppose you missed the point that I have been sending money to those I agree with. I WAS in agreement with Herman before he jumped the shark. Happy? Maybe some skittles and unicorns will make you feel better.
I suppose you missed the point that I have been sending money to those I agree with. I WAS in agreement with Herman before he jumped the shark. Happy? Maybe some skittles and unicorns will make you feel better.
BTW, only those who have made up their minds are for the MSM favorites because it is they who have already chosen for you. If I have yet to make up my mind that would be totally counter to your arguement.
To your point about Palin, guilty as charged for anyone who still has the hankering to jump in past your deadline. I prefer to wait until it is time for choosing instead of choosing time itself.
An honest response, and easily remedied via search engine of your choice.
I do think that if a person has ties to the Fed, he may be connected to the Globalists
Another important reason to educate yourself about Class C board directors. Of course, it is easier to espouse global anti-Fed opinions instead of becoming fully informed with facts.
I am with you! It is way too soon to know who to vote for and I am grateful we have time to vet. We know the msm ain’t gonna do it for us. I keep hoping a solid person decides the time is right and will give us a chance to vote for a candidate not having to choose the lesser of two evils. I like Cain alot, but am going to learn all I can.
When barry first gave his speech at the DNC I will admit I was intriqued, although not a D since my youth, I would be willing to vote any party that put up a good person to vote for. I then began in earnest doing my own vetting. I was shocked at what I learned about ol’ barry boy. I tried to tell people, become a certified birther and have learned a good lesson. Do not trust without verifying. Cain still has my eye, but I will use my abilities to learn what I can.
You must know something I do not. I did search, yes a Class C director may not be one making the big deciscions, but he is appointed by the Board of Govenors. That is where my suspicion lies.
To be a person choosen to be on this board A,B,or C, says to me that he is connected. I am questioning that. Is there a problem asking for Freeper input? I appreciate the fact you pointed this pout, but I do feel I am being attacked. I want opinion. I want everyone to know all sides of this vetting process. I think these kinds of historical facts say alot more about a person then what racial slip they may make.
Alot of people just overlooked who barry’s buddies are and were and look where we are now. I hope we all question everything about every hopeful, great seeming or not.
Excellent. Thanks for the support of vetting instead of deciding at this point in the game. I have no illusions of deciding until I have to cast the only vote that matters in the debate. Being from Florida, that just became much more of a moving target. BTW, it is the Perry and Romney operatives who are behind the shenanigans down here (does Mel Martinez ring a bell?). I personally feel all primaries should be the same day in April or May before the November election.
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