Posted on 09/27/2011 4:45:38 AM PDT by Kaslin
Do not suppose for a minute that Herman Cain's victory in the Florida straw poll will alter the liberal narrative about the Tea Party and Republicans. No, we will continue to be instructed by the Congressional Black Caucus, the Today Show and The New York Times that the eruption of the Tea Parties is a reflection of the dark id of American conservatism; that it is primarily racist and xenophobic; and that the Tea Party movement is radical and extremist.
Waving the "bloody shirt" of racism has been the most reliable workhorse of Democratic politics for at least a generation. Remember the wall-to-wall coverage of the "epidemic" of black church fires in the 1990s? Remember George W. Bush's "insensitivity" regarding the ghastly lynching of James Byrd? The epidemic turned out to be imaginary and Bush was happy to sign the death warrant for one of Byrd's murderers, but the tactic is too precious for Democrats to abandon.
It will take some imagination to explain away Herman Cain's success. Among the very voters Democrats demonize, Cain achieved a resounding victory with 37.1 percent of the vote -- more than twice the percentage of his next, nearest competitor Rick Perry, who received 15.4 percent.
And it wasn't that Republicans and conservatives were acting upon an affirmative action spirit -- trying to prove that they too could pull the lever for a black guy. It's that Herman Cain delivers a great speech, is willing to propose solutions commensurate with our problems and is possessed of a remarkably sunny personality. As the Washington Examiner's Byron York reported, "It's not an exaggeration to say that his power as an orator sealed the deal for hundreds of delegates. They believed Cain was speaking to them from the heart, and they were carried away by it."
And it doesn't hurt that Cain embodies the Horatio Alger rise to success that liberals dismiss as myth but conservatives still believe.
Raised in pre-civil rights Georgia by working class parents (his mother was a maid and his father worked as a janitor, a barber and a chauffeur), Cain got a degree in mathematics from Morehouse College and then a master's in computer science at Purdue. While in school, he worked for the Navy in ballistics. Upon leaving the Navy, he entered the heart of corporate America, working first for the Coca-Cola Co., later for Pillsbury and then Burger King. The division of Burger King he headed went from the least profitable to the most profitable in three years. He performed similar magic for Godfather's Pizza, but in a shorter time, turning the company to profitability in a mere 14 months. He served as chairman and later CEO of the National Restaurant Association, and he also became chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, before achieving the true pinnacle of human achievement with a syndicated newspaper column.
Cain's proposal to reform Social Security along the lines that Chile and 36 other nations have adopted is the sanest entitlement policy prescription of the campaign thus far -- and with Mitt Romney playing it safe and Rick Perry having taken so much heat for the Ponzi scheme wording -- it is likely to remain so.
Cain's 999-tax plan is similarly refreshing. Our 11,045-page tax code, barnacled by layer after layer of complexity and special interest loopholes, is a drag on productivity and national sanity. A government watchdog agency estimates that Americans spend 6.1 billion hours annually complying with the code. Something like Cain's plan would cut the Gordian knot.
But as historian and political analyst Richard Brookhiser put it, in another year when the political world was rhapsodizing about some other newcomer (it may even have been Ross Perot), "The presidency is not an entry-level post." It isn't that Cain lacks the stature to be president, it's that he lacks the kind of experience the office requires. Though we perpetually disparage politicians in America (for good reasons much of the time), it cannot be denied that political skills are necessary in a political job. Beyond delivering a good speech, a successful president must know how to build coalitions, apply pressure to friends and foes alike, deal with a hostile press, appoint officials who won't embarrass the administration, handle ego and turf battles among his advisors and cabinet members, and know when to spend and when to husband political capital. And all of that is before he begins to deal with other nations.
Cain is a great American. His sudden rise in the presidential contest should (but won't) give pause to the bigots who have defamed conservatives and the Tea Party. But he is not our knight in shining armor. There may not be one. He'd make a heck of a Treasury Secretary though.
I was pleasantly surprised at first, then she choked at the end.
Mona dear... your RINO slip is showing.
“Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual — or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.” —Samuel Adams, in the Boston Gazette, 1781
In Chicago, he’s accountable to the Ward boss.
The people who voted for the black rage filled Obama had white guilt, which has been met with additional Black Rage, to make the disengenuious white liberal feel even more guilty second guessing their loyalty to socially manufactured liberal guilt.
Cain is not playing to the black rage or white guilt.... Which explains why the guilt ridden white liberals and the Black ragers call Cain an Uncle Tom, Oreo etc, and ANYONE who can not be mau maued ( Tea Partiers) are called racists.
I’ll take Cain for president any day of the week over what we have now in the WH. He is more than capable and intelligent. I love the guy!
Mona’s been vicious on Palin. I guess she wants panty-waist Romney.
“...then she choked at the end.”
You are correct.
I have not had a candidate until Saturday. Herman Cain is my candidate, and it is not because he is African American. It is because he is a conservative
born December 13, 1945 in Memphis, TN (Meets the Jus Soli Requirement)
Parents were
Luther Cain Jr., born March 16, 1925 in TN, died March 29, 1982 in Atlanta, GA
Lenora Davis, born July 27, 1925 in GA, died August 20, 2005 in Atlanta, GA
Both parents were US Citizens at the time of his birth (Meets the Jus Sanguinis Requirement)
Herman Cain is a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN
Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama ISN'T!
A good executive can build coalitions, hire the right people, blah blah blah blah blah.....
We are electing a Chief EXECUTIVE Mona.
Cain will beat your boy Romney and will beat Zero hands down.
I have been aware of Herman Cain for a while, having listened to him subbing for Boortz on various occasions. I always thought he was dumbing down his commentary (or simply not capable of the incisive conservative point of view that I like to listen to) on the radio.
I have to say, I’ve been pleasantly surprised listening to him expound on his positions on the stump. He’s won me over.
Unless, and until Sarah gets in the race, Herman Cain is my choice.
‘Pod
:: before achieving the true pinnacle of human achievement with a syndicated newspaper column ::
Written by a syndicated newspaper columnist.
Mona...are you really a brain dead journalist RINO?
campaign posters:
Fire the Chicago mob!
Hire the Godfather!
The Chicago mob creates chaos,
The Godfather delivers!
On the other hand, if people think that corporations are streamlined profit-generators, totally devoid of politics, turf battles, fraud, and waste, they've got another thing coming.
I've worked for Fortune 100 companies, spending a decent amount of time with the C level executives and their minions, and my takeaway was that corporations are run as inefficiently as government, and for the same reasons.
So maybe he does have some political experience. His 9-9-9 plan is a complete turkey though. A conservative wants to add a sales tax to the federal menu, without eliminating the income tax? He needs to shut the hell up about that. DUMB.
I have always liked Cain and have said I could vote for him, but I decided on Saturday that he is my candidate
I have always liked Cain and have said I could vote for him, but I decided on Saturday that he is my candidate
“The Presidency is not an entry level post.” Well, no kidding! That’s what we were saying about the Wun, but did anyone listen? Cain has executive experience unlike the community organizer.
Excellent point, especially since that arrogant, lazy, lying pos who currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave still acts like an Apprentice
Sure it can, look at what "political skills" have done to us with this current occupant of the white hut.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.