Perry, Bachmann, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul and Huntsman have all led political lives; Romney grew up around politics, served 4 years as Mass gov, run for president for some time now - is a politician/businessman; Cain's career is as a businessman but also includes political organizing and running for political office.
So it would seem, being President of the United States isn't for political novices?
So who has been the most successful politician?
Answer: Governor Rick Perry.
Rick Perry started as a Democrat in West Texas (essentially THE only party). He served in the Texas legislature - was known as one of the "pit bulls," conservative members who sat in the lower pit of the House Appropriations Committee and bitterly fought spending increases.
Perry changed parties in 1989, joining Phil Gramm and other conservative Texas Democrats, who now had a true ideological party with a burgeoning Texas GOP.
When Perry campaigned for Lt. Gov. [1998], he and his campaign staff were in it to win and his hard-nosed style was against the "friendly" advice and request of GWB [in re-election bid for Texas Gov] and Rove to run easy against Sharp, a popular democrat (and Aggie friend of Perry's from their A&M years together). Rove wanted to broaden Bush's base for his upcoming White House run. Perry told them he'd run his campaign his own way, because he knew the voters would vote for Bush for Gov. and then cross back over and vote for Sharp (D) for Lt. Gov, if he just walked through the motions like the Bush-Rove team asked him to do.
Perry won the seat for Lt. Gov. -- the first Republican elected to that office since Reconstruction. Now 13 years later and into his 3rd term as Texas governor, the GOP holds a super majority. So Perry has earned his conservative spurs -- fighting both parties!
[The Bushes and Rove supported Kay Bailey Hutchison's primary challenge against Gov. Perry in the 2010 election too]
That break in the 1998 election demonstrates the biggest difference between Bush (whom I still thank the Lord for putting him in place on 9-11-01) and Perry: Bush thought if he gave enough, people would like him. He didn’t seem to ever “get it” that the Left would never like him because of his stand on the Lord, the right to life and marriage - and that they never could find some ugly sin in his life.
Perry sometimes bulls on through even though he knows he’s making enemies. He makes a decision and goes through with it until he’s convinced that there is a good argument against it.
I’m afraid that Mr. Cain hasn’t figured out that he can’t govern like a CEO or even the Chair of a Board of Directors. You can’t fire the voters or vote them off the Board.