Posted on 08/02/2003 1:33:00 PM PDT by Amish
This man sees Senate race, not his race
Inasmuch as liberals demagogue the GOP as the party against diversity, it is fascinating to see that one of the most qualified and personally engaging candidates for federal office in recent memory -- 57-year-old African-American successful business leader Herman Cain -- has entered the Georgia race for the U.S. Senate as a Republican.
Cain's conservative message is lent special credibility by his powerful life story. He grew up in Atlanta in a "half of a house," where he slept on the kitchen floor. His father worked three jobs, as barber, chauffeur and janitor, to afford a home when Cain was in eighth grade.
Despite such beginnings, Cain graduated at the top of his class. But because of segregation, he was barred from attending the University of Georgia. He graduated, instead, from Morehouse College with a degree in mathematics.
After working for the Department of the Navy, Cain began a remarkable rise up the corporate ladder -- first as vice president of Pillsbury, then vice president of Burger King, and finally president of Godfather's Pizza. Two years later, he bought the company.
Today, Cain is chairman of the board of Godfather's, an author, motivational speaker and associate minister. He is the past chairman of the National Restaurant Association, current chairman of the Tax Leadership Council and serves on the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform, chaired by Jack Kemp, as well as numerous other boards.
Cain gained national attention in 1994 by challenging President Clinton on health care reform during a televised town hall meeting. A mathematician with an understanding of economics and fiscal policy, Cain took the floor to explain, "Mr. President, with all due respect, your calculation . . . is incorrect." Arguing that Clinton's plan would destroy jobs, Cain traveled across the country mobilizing the business community against government-dictated health care.
Cain explains he's running for the Senate because he observes in Washington only incremental solutions to problems that are growing exponentially. Having been blessed with success, he feels compelled to use what he has learned to solve problems beyond his own.
Unsurprisingly, Cain's top issues include tax reform, Social Security, health care and education. He would replace "the 7-million-word mess" of the current tax code with a consumption tax that would unleash the potential of each individual. Because he observes it's well-known that Social Security is going to go bankrupt, Cain favors "doing something about it sooner rather than later," such as permitting workers to divert payroll taxes to personal retirements accounts.
On health care, Cain explains there needs to be a paradigm shift from health insurance as someone else's money (that's spent on our behalf) to "it's my money." He favors granting employees the same tax write-offs given employers, so that people can choose for themselves what is best suited to their needs, including medical savings accounts.
Cain strongly favors local control in education over federal dictates. Like President Bush, he supports granting parents choices to send their children to different public schools (if their own is failing), nontraditional public schools (like charter schools) or even private schools if public schools are not meeting the needs of students.
Believing that life begins at conception, Cain is unambiguously pro-life. And, as the husband "to the same woman" for 35 years, the father of two, and a grandfather, he is pro-family.
Finally, on race relations, Cain observes one of the greatest things about this nation is our ability to change. We abolished slavery, tore down the walls of segregation and opened the doors to equal opportunity. Now, he feels, the greatest impediment to racial harmony is that some hearts are still stuck in the past -- both white and black. Changing this requires leadership.
As to why Cain chose to run as a Republican, he explains that Democrats appear to want more of the same from government. More of the same is about the last thing this candidate appears to be about.
— Vernadette Ramirez Broyles is an attorney with the Atlanta law firm Lawgical Counsel and public policy counsel for a national faith-based nonprofit called "We Care America."
Long story short, this guy is the black version of Rush, and you can't and will not find a better man then that.
Not a true statement from the AJC. If Cain is 57 now, he would have been 18 in about 1964. The University integrated in 1961.
Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes ended more than 175 years of segregation at the state's flagship university on January 9, 1961
http://us.cnn.com/2001/US/01/09/uga.anniversary/
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My bets would be against the White House backing him. Isakson is a moderate while Cain sounds like a dreaded right wing conservative.
Any doubts? Read this line:
he observes in Washington only incremental solutions to problems that are growing exponentially.
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