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It took me a couple of hours of reading, cogitation, and regurgitation to critique Mitt Romney's foreign policy positions. Clearly, I didn't think it was perfect, or even all that good in many places. But, I had to assess it, mull over the content... you know, think. Now, I desperately want to be an equal opportunity blogger, and at this point Herman Cain appears to be the co-frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination. Sure, I've had my fun with him in the past, and he has no shortage of foreign policy gaffes, but I figured that impromptu utterances during debates...

A new poll of Florida Republicans found businessman Herman Cain leading the pack of GOP presidential candidates in Florida with the strong backing of supporters of the tea party movement. Florida Republicans who did not identify themselves as tea party supporters broke toward former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. A poll unveiled by the American Research Group (ARG) on Thursday found Cain, who won the Presidency 5 straw poll last month in Orlando, now led in Florida among likely primary voters with 34 percent followed by Romney, who placed second in the 2008 Florida presidential primary, with 28 percent. Former...

MR. GREGORY: You've talked as well about liberals in the country. You gave a speech in February where you didn't mince words. This is what you said. (Videotape) MR. CAIN: The objective of the liberals is to destroy this country. (End videotape) MR. GREGORY: To destroy this country. How so? MR. CAIN: Economically. Look at this economy. David, the engine of economic growth is the business sector. We are growing at an anemic 1, 1 1/2 percent. If we allow this economy to continue to go down, it would destroy our economic capability. And, as a result, we are now...

23.5 Romney +0.3 23.2 Cain 12.8 Perry 8.3 Gingrich 8.0 Paul 4.7 Bachmann 1.8 Huntsman 1.6 Santorum http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-1452.html#polls

For political professionals it’s tempting to write off Herman Cain’s candidacy as a surge that will eventually wash back out to sea. But that would be a mistake. Cain has two things going for him that have intersected in time and could make his candidacy truly historic- unlike the canned, Nobel-prize winning infomercial Democrats put on for the mile-high, but inch deep Barack Obama. Change? Obama’s really about more of the same: more government, more power, more money, more fundraising, more problems, more regulations. Nothing has changed in Washington; it’s only that the checks are bigger. The only thing different...

JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) — Herman Cain is firing up the crowd at a tea party rally in this West Tennessee town when the generator powering his sound system shudders to a halt. Cain stands awkwardly for a few moments then suddenly begins to sing. Slowly at first but gaining in speed, he belts out "Impossible Dream" in the rich baritone he's honed in church choir. "You know, when it's your rally, you can do what you want to do!" Cain says as he finishes with a raucous laugh. The 500 or so supporters who have jammed the strip mall parking...

Bill Maher may be anti-religion, but he's got faith in one thing: Herman Cain won't be the the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee. Maher bet CNBC correspondent Michele Caruso-Cabrera $1 million that Cain won't earn the GOP nomination, and shook hands on the wager during Friday night's taping of his HBO political comedy show Real Time with Bill Maher. Caruso-Cabrera was arguing that Cain's "incredible likeability factor" could carry him all the way when, Maher snarked back that he'd put a million dollars down against her one dollar that Cain won't win the nomination because Republicans can't deal with a non-white...

Herman Cain is the only GOP presidential candidate who wants to kill the tax code. That's right. Put a knife in it. Junk the entire system. And people are cheering as he rises in the polls in his quest for the nomination. Cain's 9-9-9 plan is not perfect. But then again, the good should never be the enemy of the perfect. Rep. Paul Ryan gives the plan a thumbs-up. Supply-side mentor Art Laffer tells me it would be "far, far better than the current system." And Chris Chocola, president of the free-market Club for Growth, calls it "a truly revolutionary...

Herman Cain’s catchy 9-9-9 tax overhaul system is gathering major supporters as the former pizza magnate consolidates his position at the top of the Republican field in the race for the White House. House budget committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan and Ronald Reagan’s economic guru Art Laffer both expressed their support for the plan which would replace the current tax code. The anti-tax Club for Growth also came out in favor of Cain’s plan which would cut income and corporate taxes to 9 percent and institute a new national sales tax at the same level. Payroll, capital gains and estate...

Herman Cain has the highest favorable rating of any Republican presidential candidate among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents polled by Gallup, according to a survey released today. Cain's 77-percent favorable rating edges out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, whose favorable rating is 72 percent, says Gallup.Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is third at 66 percent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is fourth at 63 percent, former Sen. Rick Santorum is fifth at 62 percent, Rep. Michele Bachmann is sixth at 59 percent, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is seventh at 54 percent, and Rep. Ron Paul is eighth at 53 percent.The survey was conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 9. The...

Herman Cain's speech today in Bartlett, TN (Memphis) the first 10 mins have been cut. Click the link at the top. Herman Cain was born in Memphis and is coming home to his roots, in Memphis. MY observations: There were over 2,000, when only 200 were expected, and we left the grounds SPOTLESS, we did not take a dump on a LEO car, or call the LEO bad names, or burn the Flag. Not one flag was left on the ground. Pledge was said, as was the National Anthem sung. People of all colors were there with their children. It...

A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Herman Cain leading the Republican presidential field with 33%, followed by Mitt Romney at 18%

The anti-tax Club for Growth is rising to Herman Cain's defense amid growing scrutiny of - and questions about - his "9-9-9" economic plan: “Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan is both pro-growth and a good starting point on the way to a flat or fair tax,” said Club president Chris Chocola. “Eliminating taxes on capital gains and dividends and combining that with huge rate cuts in both corporate and income taxes would create an unparalleled economic boom. 9-9-9 also eliminates the regulatory and compliance costs from the current tax code that suck billions out of the economy each year. It is...

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain slammed Occupy Wall Street protesters camped out in New York City’s Zuccotti Park Friday as hypocrites who would “rather have a handout than work.” “Visiting New York this week, I found the organized street protests against Wall Street were the talk of the town. But I’m sorry — they lost me at hello,” writes Cain in a New York Post op-ed. Cain argues that capitalism is the main driver of job creation in the United States, and criticizes protesters for the hypocrisy of attacking corporations that supply them with the technologies they themselves use. “It’s...

He opposes abortion, including in cases of rape and incest. He thinks Iran could be deterred from aggression by deploying more warships. And he is a proponent of privatized Social Security. But just one topic — his “9-9-9” tax plan — has dominated Herman Cain’s rhetoric in this presidential race, helping to propel him to the top of Republican polls this month. And that has prompted questions about what else he stands for and whether he has the breadth of knowledge — particularly on foreign policy — expected of an occupant of the White House. An examination of Cain’s words...

What a difference a few debates can make. Herman Cain's star has risen steadily in the past two months, from a largely unknown CEO running for president to a top-tier candidate in the Republican field for 2012 -- and now voters even rank him above the presumed front-runner, Mitt Romney, in a poll released Wednesday evening. As GOP voters grow disenchanted with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and remain wary of Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, Cain, a onetime radio-show host and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, catapulted into the lead in the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. Drawn by Cain's...

Starting with the "top of the fold" Japanese Version of the daily "Wall Street Journal", the Japanese vernacular press is brimming full of articles mentioning Herman Cain is the new front runner in the GOP race for the party's nomination for 2012. This news seems to have exploded overnight.It will be quite a task to translate all these in full. Here are some representative samples from today I saw, using "Google Japan (News)". I shall endeavor to provide a URL link and title translation for just a segment of them, which have all appeared in the last 48 hours, particularly...

Subtitle: Ex-Businessman Passes Perry, Romney Among GOP Voters.

Alternate headline: “Republicans really, really, really don’t want to nominate Mitt Romney.” Strong Tea Party support has Cain in the driver’s seat nationally, just as he has been on our last four individual state polls. With non-Tea Party Republicans Romney actually leads Cain 29-27. But with the Tea Party crowd Cain is getting 39% with Gingrich at 16%, Perry at 14%, and Romney in 4th place at 13%. Romney doesn’t need to win the Tea Partiers to be the Republican nominee. But he does need to finish better than 4th with them. There are indications within the poll that Cain’s...

Republican presidential contender Herman Cain amplified his criticism Sunday of the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, calling the protesters “jealous’ Americans who "play the victim card” and want to “take somebody else’s” Cadillac.