Free Republic

If you read between the lines of the various news reports about the Cain operation, the picture becomes clearer to me every day. The latest dust up about the sexual harassment of employees confirms it. Leading up to the sex scandal, we had the clues. Now I know it to be so, that Herman Cain is an ass, and he's reckless.The first clue came just after Cain placed poorly in the Iowa straw polls. We heard from disgruntled former Cain staffers: Jim Zeiler, the regional field director who was one of the five disgruntled staffers who left, explained his...

It’s a Rick Perry exclusive! The heated debates, the new campaign ads and a push to get his message out — the GOP candidate talks strategy with Chris Wallace, live from Texas. Check your local listing or watch Fox News Sunday on Fox News Channel at 2p, 6p, and 9p ET.

1. Cain Ignorant on Arab "Right to Return" Propaganda That's Really Meant to Destroy Israel Herman Cain was on Fox News Sunday in May. When Chris Wallace asked about the Arab propaganda movement to give Palestinians the "Right to Return," Herman Cain indicated that he was ignorant of the propaganda intricacies of that policy. The entire duration of the Barack Obama administration has been openly hostile towards Israel. There is some indication that the 2012 election will not repair this travesty if Herman Cain is the Republican nominee. He's not smart enough on the issue to turn things around....

ATLANTA — Herman Cain is learning the hard way what it means to face the glare of the national spotlight. After captivating Republicans hungry for an alternative to Mitt Romney, the presidential hopeful has made a series of stumbles that have left some questioning if he's ready for the White House. The Georgia businessman has been on a media blitz since a rise in the polls catapulted him into the top tier of the race for the Republican party nomination. But Cain has sometimes appeared to be in over his head. In the last week, he: —Suggested a fence along...

It’s a nice try but this doesn’t jibe with the exchange between him and Piers Morgan. Yesterday in an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN, I was asked questions about abortion policy and the role of the President. I understood the thrust of the question to ask whether that I, as president, would simply “order” people to not seek an abortion. My answer was focused on the role of the President. The President has no constitutional authority to order any such action by anyone. That was the point I was trying to convey. As to my political policy view on...

One of the key economists who helped presidential candidate Herman Cain draft his 9-9-9 tax plan is backing away from the most controversial component of it, warning that the criticism Cain endured at Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate shows his proposed 9 percent national sales tax might have to go. "It was such a dart board," economist Stephen Moore said Wednesday of the proposal. Cain weathered a storm of complaints over his tax plan at the Republican debate in Las Vegas. Virtually every candidate took turns accusing the businessman of pushing a scheme that would introduce new streams of revenue...

Cain's Gruesome (and Supposedly Humorous) Solutions for Illegal Immigration: At campaign stops in Tennessee yesterday, Cain put forward two separate plans for tackling the nation's immigration problem: An electrified fence along the border that would stop short the life of anyone trying to slip into the country illegally, and re-equipping border forces "with real guns and real bullets." This morning on Meet the Press he responded to the (unsurprising and immediate) backlash to his electric fence remarks, saying: "That's a joke. That's not a serious plan. I've also said America needs to get a sense of humor." Cain's Brainstorming Process:...

You can watch the full video, or separately the interview with Cain or the Debate between Jindal (for Perry) and Pawlenty (for Romney)

Herman Cain tested the national spotlight Sunday as the Republican presidential primary’s newest front-runner. Facing tough questions during a 25-minute one-on-one interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press," Cain acknowledged that his plan to simplify the tax code would raise taxes for “some” people and clarified his position that he doesn’t believe abortion should be an option in instances of rape and incest. Scrapping the current federal tax code — which he described as a “10-million-word mess” — would eliminate a host of invisible taxes and eventually reduce prices, Cain said. Some economists have pointed out that Cain’s plan would shift...

Despite businessman Herman Cain's stunning rise in the polls, conservative columnist George Will said Sunday that Cain does not merit serious attention from President Obama's reelection campaign. Will said on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour" that Cain has not shown that he has staying power and that without a traditional campaign infrastructure, it's not clear that he is a serious candidate. "We're having a kind of Andy Warhol primary where everybody is leader for 15 minutes and Cain's turn today but it's not clear that Cain has staying power," Will said. "He's not running for president, sort of strolling...

Herman Cain, during some go-arounds with David Gregory, concedes that his "9-9-9" plan would raise some taxes: "Some people will pay more. But most people will pay less," Cain, a former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza who has never held elected office, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

A pumped-up Herman Cain is promising a rock ’em, sock ’em takedown of Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney, saying he’s already got the Bay State governor on the run and can deliver a knockout at Tuesday night’s debate because voters “can’t get excited about (Romney’s) leadership.” “He got a little defensive last time, so he knows Herman is going to come after him,” Cain said during a phone interview with the Herald yesterday. “We are in a contest here. We are in a battle.” Cain, who has surged to the front of the crowded Republican presidential pack, already locked on...

Romney has had a big boost from the Republican establishment, which decided a while back he's the serious candidate with a chance of beating President Obama. The establishment also decided that upending Texas Gov. Rick Perry's chances is the best way to ensure a Romney victory, since none of the other candidates in the race are very serious and the establishment utterly failed in coaxing NJ Gov. Chris Christie into the race. Cain and Romney are also buddies. Cain endorsed Romney last time around and Romney finds various ways to praise Cain, even going so far as telling a NH...

BATON ROUGE — President Barack Obama is supported by slightly more than one-third of Louisiana voters and would be easily beaten in the state by Republican contenders Rick Perry or Mitt Romney, according to a new poll released Thursday.Obama's approval ratings in Louisiana are below his favorability ratings nationally. But Louisiana's backing of the tea party political movement also is strong. The Clarus poll shows 46 percent of voters surveyed support the tea party, while 30 percent opposed it. ……..When Republican voters were questioned about who they supported for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, Perry, the Texas governor, was in...

Bartlett, Tenn. - Herman Cain lashed out at his critics Friday, accusing detractors of his 9-9-9 tax reform plan of trying to slow his newfound momentum with baseless attacks. During his first campaign swing since surging in the polls, Cain told a tea party crowd near his birthplace of Memphis that the plan would grow the economy by five percent at minimum, and pledged to pass it in his first 90 days in office. “Can y’all see the bull’s eye on my back?” he joked to the crowd of several hundred supporters who had gathered in a city park here...