Posted on 03/26/2011 3:22:04 PM PDT by jazusamo
DES MOINES, Iowa — Herman Cain lit up a crowd of Iowa conservatives Saturday, as the lone black GOP presidential hopeful blasted President Barack Obama for a "liberal attack" on the nation and declared that he himself "won't stay on the Democrat plantation."
The former Godfather's Pizza CEO gave a stemwinder of a speech at Iowa Rep. Steve King's Conservative Principles Conference here, addressing head-on the issue of race — contrasting himself with the nation's first black president.
"I am an American black conservative, an ABC and I’m proud of it!" a fiery Cain said from the podium, drawing huge applause. He added that he hates being labeled by others and said, "I’ve been called a racist too! Go figure! I haven’t figured that one out yet."
But he said it's really "because I won’t stay on the Democrat plantation like I’m supposed to.
"I have two observations for you," Cain said. "Number one, if you’re black and you disagree with the president [it doesn't imply racism]. … It may shock you but some black people can think for themselves. Number two, if we ever reach the point where we cannot criticize constructively our elected leaders we’re no longer the republic that the founders intended. We’ve become a nation of tyranny."
The rapt crowd ate up the speech.
Cain, as others did earlier in the day, quoted from the Constitution and said, "We don't need to rewrite the Constitution... we need to enforce the Constitution."
He added that a "liberal attack on America is making the pursuit of happiness more and more and more difficult."
And he hit a theme that has become a constant in the GOP field — American exceptionalism — when he said, "I have an announcement for the liberals. We are an exceptional nation and we’re going to keep it that way."
Rock on Herman.
Sure sounds good to me!
But, its so confusing. I thought clinton was the first black president, and zer0bama was the first Jewish president....
Yep, I thought that too:)
A black, male Sarah Palin. I would vote for this man in a heartbeat.
Imagine if he gets the nomination... Conservatives all over the country with signs in their yards supporting a black man. What will we do with all the exploded liberal heads?
More Cain for your brain!
You’re getting to where you’re going.
Welcome home Herman.
Did he answer question about his past stance and position on the Federal Reserve? I was 100% with him until I see his comments from sometime ago. The Fed is a major part of our problem and it needs to be addressed. If Herman cannot address this then I cannot continue on his side.
Excellent...my goodness for once someone got this right...a Republic not a stinking democracy....
I haven't quite gotten it out of my brain yet, that he supported Romney in'08.
I’ve no idea and haven’t decided on which conservative I’ll vote for yet. We have some good ones and there’s room for all, IMO.
I was happy to see that too.
I’ll go one further...given the choice between Palin and Cain...I still take Herman Cain! He is the ultimate conservative tea party candidate! Plus you’re right, it will cause liberals heads to explode...how will they be able to play the race card?
Cain/West 2012!!!!
My first thought exactly! We are a republic and it infuriates me to hear all of the GOP politicians and so-called conservative talking heads refer to us as a democracy.
He says all of the right things with regard to the Constitution, the Republic and conservative values and I want to hear more but it is way too early to be locking in support for one or another candidate.
FUBO & FAD
We could actually reverse the race card. Any liberal NOT voting for Cain we could call a racist.
Yes, True there may be several good ones but to me a true indicator of a conservative is one who wants a smaller government and the fed is not part of that plan for sure. Rather is is a major part of today’s problems, well along with some cant stop spending reps...
Go, Herman, go! You have my vote already!
Herman is a first rate orator, and uses his black voice to great effect. IMHO, the best speaker among the potential candidates. He is how I imagine Frederick Douglass to have been.
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