Top Ten Reasons to Support Herman Cain for President

Even those conservatives who will not vote for Herman Cain to win the Republican nomination should hope that he does run -- and that his candidacy lasts a long time during the nomination process, perhaps even succeeding.

Not the least of reasons is that a Cain candidacy would be a hoot. And I do not mean that in a derisive or condescending way at all. I mean that it would be the kind of doggone honest and refreshing campaign the country needs. It would be the opposite of the stale McCain run. Cain does not speak Washington drivel, and he's not afraid to take a strong position. Dare I say it? He'll call a spade a spade, and he'll reach across the aisle only to smack someone down. He will admit what McCain would not: that we do have a lot to fear from an Obama presidency.

Herman Cain is peerless among the long list of potential candidates -- and his impact on the field and the direction of the party will be in the direction of free enterprise, less government, and speaking with boldness -- you know, pretty much the opposite of what the GOP has done since Newt's Congress lost steam in the mid- to late '90s.

To codify, here are the top reasons to support Cain based on my observation of the man over a period of years:

10. The "race card": A Cain candidacy not only takes the race card off the table -- it might in fact put it in the Republicans' camp. Frankly, Cain is "blacker" than Obama in every way imaginable. He does not have a white parent. He has a slight black dialect and does not "turn it off" to impress Harry Reid or Joe Biden, nor does he "amp it up" to impress Jeremiah Wright.

As Obama's presidency has shown, America did not need a black president. What America needs is to just get over the race thing, period. Cain is over it, and I bet he would flat-out tell Obama to get over it, too.

9. Been there, done that: Cain brings a lot of "been there, done that" to the office, and that is in stark contrast not only to Obama, but to almost anyone else running. Cain is not shy about making fun of politicians' lack of understanding of the reality of the free-enterprise system, and certainly no group embodies that ignorance more than Obama and his administration. Making a payroll; dealing with employees, the IRS, the INS, insurance companies; dealing with rents, lawsuits, unemployment commissions, etc. -- Cain has been there, done that. Obama has not.

8. Not forgettable: One Herman Cain soundbite is worth ten from Tim...um, what's his name? Oh, yeah, Pawlenty. Cain's boldness and confidence and accent and voice will cut through the noise out there, and this makes his candidacy dangerous even if he faces some financial handicaps versus other folks running. He is a talk radio host now by trade and knows how to hold folks' attention.

7. Will break every rule set for him by "strategists": This one might be my favorite. Cain has never counted on political strategists to get him where he is now, and this alone separates him from all other candidates. Lord help the first "strategist" from the RNC who advises Cain to "tone it down" or "soften his position."

6. Will really get under the skin of the Washingtonian class: A Cain candidacy would drive David Brooks to apoplexy. Charles Krauthammer -- doing his best to run off legions of his longtime fans -- would no doubt find some Palinesque reasons to object to Cain. And those are the conservative ruling-class folks. Imagine what the liberals will say about this non-Ivy league, non-elected Southern black guy running for president. I can't wait to hear it.

5. Will not get in way of the 2010 Congress' momentum: This might be the most important reason to support a Cain candidacy. He has gained momentum as part of the Tea Party movement that was the defining factor in the 2010 congressional elections. A Cain candidacy would be in lockstep with what the country told Congress it wanted in November 2010. It will be an extension of the 2010 campaign, and that's preferable to a presidential election that will distract from the 2010 results.

4. Never held office before: While Cain's opponents -- on both sides of the aisle -- are licking their chops over this one, they should rethink this. Mr. Cain already has a lethal (can we still say that?) response to this one: "Everyone in Washington has held public office before. How's that working out for you?" Case closed.

3. Ann Coulter's second-favorite pick: So Ann's first choice is Chris Christie, and Cain comes in second. With some 25 names floating around out there, being number 2 on anyone's list is pretty good at this point in the game. Besides, I predict that Cain will overtake Christie on Ann's list. Cain is more conservative and even less afraid to speak his mind. While I love Christie's boldness on the issues where he is conservative, he will wobble off to the Jersey left a bit on some issues. Cain will not.

2. Will not be cowed by the new speech police: The attempt by the left to silence conservatives in light of the Tucson shootings will not be the last. And you can bet that when they do, some on the right will recoil and fall prey, regardless of how mindless the attempts are. If you have followed Herman Cain, you know that this will not be an issue for him.

And the number one reason to support a Cain candidacy? It opens the door to a ticket of Cain and Haley Barbour in some order. OK, maybe this is not earthshaking, but imagine the "racist Republican Party" putting forth a national ticket including a drawlin' Mississippi good ol' boy and a black businessman who still speaks a smidgen of Ebonics.

This would be the hope and change America thought they were getting in 2008. This would be ticket not so much of "racial healing" as it would be the ticket of "just get over the race thing." Because liberalism is joined at the hip with the race pimp industry, a liberal African-American cannot by definition do for the country what a black conservative can. A black liberal winning reinforces counterproductive stereotypes. A conservative black winning crushes them. Period.

Yes, I know that reasons number one and ten seem a lot alike. They are. We have just about destroyed our country trying to put this issue to bed, and the result is that tensions are higher than they were before Obama was elected. Which we predicted.

A Cain presidency would actually go a long way towards solving this. And besides, Mr. Cain has some great ideas for getting government out of our way and letting America be America again. And we all need that.

I like Herman, I listen to him all the time - he is a patriot. However, I do not understand this push to put him in Washington. Is there some fear that we will be "in trouble" if we do not replace one black president with another black president? Are we afraid of NOT electing another black president out of "political correctness" or cow-towing to the liberal press?

Cain has some good ideas, but from what I've heard, they are ideas that are already out there, and just repeating them to get elected is no different from reading a teleprompTer.

The other subliminal purpose I see in the "Ten Reasons" is to use Cain to tone down the black rhetoric. Well, they're not going to "tone down", they're only going to immediately brand him as an "Uncle Tom" and he will be more hated by the left than was Bush.

At the moment, the left does not "fear" Cain, and most do not even know him, or know much about him. As soon as they they - if his star rises - you can bet they'll know everything about him including his underwear size, and use it all against him, just like the they do Palin and other candidates.

We've actually had enough "platitudes", we need some leadership in Washington, not a play-by-play announcer.

I think Herman would be more effective to stay on the air, nationally, than go to the White House.

Flame away, but that's my opinion.

I like Herman Cain, but I don't find the reasons listed to be convincing:

10. The "race card": A Cain candidacy not only takes the race card off the table -- it might in fact put it in the Republicans' camp.
That sure as heck didn't work for Alan Keyes in Illinois. When you think along these lines, you are playing right to the MSM's strengths, and are easily portrayed as a panderer, whether yo are or not. An Alan West type running against a white liberal does much better.

9. Been there, done that: Cain brings a lot of "been there, done that" to the office, [ . . . ] Cain is not shy about making fun of politicians' lack of understanding of the reality of the free-enterprise system,

Republicans try these types of candidates regularly. This did not work for Meg Whitman, Linda McMahon or Carly Fiorina (In Fiorina's case, she ran HP badly.)

8. Not forgettable: One Herman Cain soundbite is worth ten from Tim...um, what's his name? Oh, yeah, Pawlenty.

He doesn't stand alone here. Palin (who also runs a business), Christie, Pence and Barbour are all capable of bon mots.

7. Will break every rule set for him by "strategists": This one might be my favorite.

Once outside of McCain's control, Palin has already demonstrated that in spades. The same approach did NOT help Alan Keyes. Of course, Cain probably has better judgment and shows no sign to set up a perpetual fund-raising machine.

6. Will really get under the skin of the Washingtonian class: A Cain candidacy would drive David Brooks to apoplexy. ... And those are the conservative ruling-class folks. Imagine what the liberals will say about this non-Ivy league, non-elected Southern black guy running for president.

Again, Palin already does.

5. Will not get in way of the 2010 Congress' momentum:

The same could be said for a number of candidates.

4. Never held office before:

That one typically only works for generals. It might have worked for Ross Perot, if he really wanted to be elected president. Donald Trump is fighting for the same space.

3. Ann Coulter's second-favorite pick: So Ann's first choice is Chris Christie, and Cain comes in second.

Ann brings a lot to the party. But she also backed Romney and the evil Simmons in the CT-Senate primary.

2. Will not be cowed by the new speech police: The attempt by the left to silence conservatives in light of the Tucson shootings will not be the last.

Again, ground that Palin has trod more convincingly.

And the number one reason to support a Cain candidacy? It opens the door to a ticket of Cain and Haley Barbour in some order.

I thought you were trying to get RID of the race card! Cain as Barbour's #2 rebuts half of your previous points, and provides an excuse to spin Barbour's persona and some of his talks, portraying Cain as a house boy. (look at how Condeleeza Rice had been portrayed... Barbour is 10x the good ol' boy George the Younger tried to be).

If Cain is on the top of the ticket, Barbour will be seen as placed to appeal to the worst elements of southern whites (it wouldn't be true, but it brings the whole race thing in, whereas Cain's normal appeal is that he doesn't trupet being black.)

William, you said this in response to my article:
“How many times have we heard that one before?

Clarence Thomas, J.C. Watts, Colin Powell, Michael Steele, Mel Martinez, Marco Rubio. Conservatives have spent the last thirty years promoting candidates on the basis of “diversity.”

Has the Left ever stopped playing the race card? Did it stop them from accusing the Tea Party of racism?

Get used to it. The Left will always play the race card. If Hermann Cain wins the nomination, he will only get the Clarence Thomas treatment.”

Your argument seems to be that there is an assessment here that a Cain candidacy would automatically end the race card issue immediately. That is not my point. My point is that it would move it in that direction.

You also list Mel Martinez and Colin Powell and Michael Steele in a list of conservatives. You are wrong. None of them are.

And then you list the tea party and Clarence Thomas as proof that we should just give up on the race issue. Not so. The Thomas issue made some progress and the tea party issue has continued to make progress by demonstrating how ridiculous the race card is when liberals play it.

The race card issue is an on going fight. Having Cain in the campaign season for a long period will mark more progress. Or, I guess, we can just give up, which is what you seem to say.

Thanks for reading.

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