Can Cain Keep Flouting the Cardinal Rules of Politics?

Townhall.com ^ | November 7, 2011 | Michael Barone

[Kaslin]

Herman Cain, beleaguered by charges of sexual harassment, was all over Washington last week -- an odd choice of venue, considering that the Iowa precinct caucuses are now just 58 days away and the New Hampshire primary 65.

But as I learned when I sat next to Cain Friday morning during a long-scheduled taping of Richard Carlson's "Danger Zone" radio program, Cain seemed unfazed.

In conversation before the taping he dismissed the controversy. "No documentation. No witnesses. And I didn't cancel a single event this week" -- although his wife Gloria, accompanying him for the first time, cancelled an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren.

Political scientist Jay Cost, in a midweek post on the Weekly Standard blog, indicted Cain and all the other Republican candidates except Mitt Romney for breaking the rules of "the great game of politics."

"Yes, the political game as it is played in 2011 is terrible and is in need for major reforms," he wrote. "But if you want to win, you need somebody who knows how to play it."

Cain isn't buying that. He brags that he is an "unconventional candidate" with an "unconventional campaign" and an "unconventional message that is resonating around the country."

I tend to think the old rules still apply. But Cain's current lead in the polls, maintained after the sexual harassment story broke last Sunday in Politico, suggests there may be something to his argument.

One rule Cain has broken is that candidates have to spend a lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire, making personal contact with voters who, legend has it, won't support a candidate till they've had a chance to talk to him three or four times.

Cain hasn't spent much time in the two first-in-the-nation states this year. When I went to his headquarters outside Des Moines three days before the straw poll, the door was locked and the place looked empty.

Cain says he spent time there last year, and in 2011 he's been communicating with voters nationally through new media on his trips to states with later primaries.

There may be something to that. This year, voters have been getting to know potential and actual candidates through cable news and YouTube videos.

YouTube videos made New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie a national celebrity and created a boomlet for his candidacy. He declined to run, but I can't recall a similar groundswell for a governor of a mid-sized state.

The cable news debates have attracted far larger audiences, probably heavily tilted to actual caucus-goers and primary voters, than debates in previous cycles, and the candidates' performances have had an impact on voters (ask Rick Perry).

Another old rule is that a whiff of scandal sinks a candidacy. But 79 percent of Republicans in this week's ABC/Washington Post poll say that they don't care about the charges against Cain. On talk radio and in the right blogosphere, many dismiss the charges as an unfair attack by liberal media.

Over the past week, Cain has serially violated the old rule that you must respond to scandal charges definitively and consistently. In one of his Fox News appearances, he acknowledged cheerfully that he was "unprepared" for the charges, though his campaign had 10 days' notice of them.

This has astounded conservative bloggers like Commentary's Pete Wehner ("unbelievably amateurish campaign") and The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin ("Cain seems intent on making the controversy worse").

I suspect Rubin is right when she says that Cain's strength in polls last week does not represent voters' final verdict on him. And his inconsistent stands on issues like abortion and ignorance that China already has nuclear weapons may still hurt him.

But Cain's stance as a non-politician who refuses to obey the rules of the great game of politics is at least momentarily a political asset in a year when opinion about conventional politicians of both parties is near an all-time low.

This cycle feels like 1992, when Ross Perot zoomed ahead of George Bush and Bill Clinton in the polls and, despite leaving and re-entering the race in bizarre fashion, won 19 percent of the vote in November.

I'm still inclined to think Cain's support will evaporate sooner or later. But for a moment Friday, the thought occurred to me that I was sitting next to a future president of the United States.

[MrEdd]

From the Pope of politics.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

This is kind of like Jesus among the priests and elders. "Who the hell is this guy? Where did he get his divinity degree?"

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Before you count your chickens, make sure you give this about another month to pass. The reason I say this, is due to the traditional lag in political polls when ever a scandal or issue like this becomes public. It takes time for the apolitical world to hear it or discuss it. But in time, the effect will show up and be extremely difficult to undo once it becomes branded into the publics mind.

It is also notable that Cain has not handled this well. His outright denial and at the same time, admission that this recent scandal occurred, will prove to be very much of a problem for his candidacy. He has done nothing to prove it as false, other than say so, which is all Cain has to go on.

[ScottinVA]

There may be something to that. This year, voters have been getting to know potential and actual candidates through cable news and YouTube videos

A key point. Under the "old" rules, candidates needed to amass huge amounts of donation$ early and often to gain any kind of traction. Nowadays, with a little "out-of-the-box" strategic thinking, they can somewhat level the playing field by leveraging that new media. YouTube is an especially valuable tool, and Cain has been particularly adept at using it to his advantage.

Not to say having big cash on hand isn't helpful, because obviously it is, especially down the stretch, but with new, available media options, candidates can move their efforts forward, build support and pull in donations as time goes on.

[SMARTY]

Right!!! Along with his insistence on (then as well as NOW) running around with f&^%$# blood in his eye like some kind of certifiably lunatic, third-world, hateful, murdering tyrant who routinely exploits and inflames every voluntarily disaffected, professional dissident and career freeloader in the country to his very own alienated and dysfunctional idea of leadership!!!

[bert]

-——”Who the hell is this guy? Where did he get his divinity degree?” -——

“When he comes to the city on Sunday, let’s kill him”

[miss marmelstein]

I do think, though, that he has an amazing personality. I roared with laughter when he demanded one of the annoying hacks be handed a list of rules for good behavior among journalists. This guy takes no prisoners! He’s got an amazing funny bone - it that way, not unlike Reagan.

[Fester Chugabrew]

. . . make sure you give this about another month to pass.

Will do.

[ScottinVA]

He has done nothing to prove it as false, other than say so, which is all Cain has to go on.

Well.. how long did it take for Perry's meteoric rise to flame out? Once the Gardisil and immigration issues came to the fore, he dropped well back into the pack.

As for Cain, how would he go about proving it as false? The fact that neither specific details nor "victim" names exist to this point speaks volumes about the lack of validity of the accusations. If the "victims" have specifics, let's hear 'em. It's time to know the "what"... AND the "who."

If these women are so "livid" and so "wronged" as claimed, they should put it all out there on the open field for everyone to see.

[SMARTY]

THOSE would be the Cardinal rules of politics that treated Evita's possession of +400 FBI dossiers as an insignificant personal misdemeanor.

See?

[bcsco]

If you had read up on this at all you'd know that Cain had no idea what was coming out because Politico refused to tell him. Nor was Cain a signatory to the agreement, his being gone from NRA when it was settled.

So, with "charges" of sexual misconduct (note that only the attorney for the claimant has said it "in his view" rises to harassment) being floated by a leftist blog, no confirmation because the claimant refuses to come public, and others tied to the campaigns of Cain's competitors and a nobody radio host in Iowa with a stupid "He asked 'darlin, would you sweeten my tea?', we are to believe this stuff?

The only people adamantly crying harassment are you people from the Perry campaign. Wonders of wonders; especially when one of his pollsters is a source of some of this crap. Well keep harping on it (as I'm sure you will...it's what you are). You simply make me laugh over your blindness on how this has made you, and your marble-headed candidate look to the public. Thanks for the help. You've only made Herman Cain stronger in the public eye.

BWAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!

[Lady Lucky]

What I am sensing from this episode — JMO! — is that the phenomenon we’ve all predicted, expected, and counted on, has finally begun to flower. I’m talking about the gradual shift from old media to new.

Computers still aren’t in enough homes, but for sure they’re on the desks (or the laps) of every man, woman and worm in the media, and with each passing hour there’s another one taking some newbie on his maiden voyage into the info ether.

They know their power is disintegrating and their old tricks are increasingly lame.

Recently they leaned on Cain (pun if you please) and fell on their faces. The reason is not that they had no evidence, but that they no longer dare to create any; the carcass of Dan Rather’s career is still fresh in their nostrils. The reason is not that what they had was absurdly thin, but that out of twenty thousand emails there wasn’t one with enough substance to turn a single additional person against Sarah Palin, whereas the fishing expedition probably turned a few more against the misledia.

The reason is not that he’s a black American with a regular birth certificate and a lot of friends from way back and some actual proof of intelligence and achievement. (Plus a shortage of terrorist chums and Nobel prizes.)

These are all quite true, they are facts, obvious even to people who don’t prefer him as the nominee (I’m one of them). They are not reasons why the media has failed to defeat Cain.

People are wise to them now, in sufficient numbers. The attackers simply can no longer take the risk of loading their antique musket and firing it at this Roadrunner.

If he succeeds in the primaries — let the ‘rat overlords deal with him, put a dead girl in his car or the n-word on his tablet. “You decide! We report!”

But the misledia are too worried about keeping their own careers afloat, to manage the destruction of anyone else’s.

They’re as finished as Gail Wynand.

[justsaynomore]

Some people seem to ignore the fact that the statement from the NRA on Friday confirmed Cain's side of the story all along!

I have said it on FR before, and it cannot be repeated enough... The new talking point from Cain detractors is that the "handled it poorly".

Look for it. It will be on nearly every thread, it is on Facebook, Twitter, and the MSM.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Who said anything about Perry? And you also mentioned the two issues that had very little, or nothing to do with the reason that Cain took the lead in the polls.

You can obsess all you want over inert issues, but in reality, this race has only just begun. It is far from over and you will find that out the hard way, that Perry is not as damaged as you had hoped.

In the end, it will wind up being the candidate who has the most political experience and ability to fix the mess Obama created. Which is why Cain stands little chance of convincing the general voting public that he has the experience necessary to do the job.

[bcsco]

That’s what I was suggesting when I said his personal appeal. I think we overdo this Reaganesque meme. He is his own man and an appealing one. Let’s enjoy that and hopefully learn from it. Such a lightning rod for the harpies has something worth consideration, IMO.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”Cain isn't buying that. He brags that he is an “unconventional candidate” with an “unconventional campaign” and an “unconventional message that is resonating around the country.”
I tend to think the old rules still apply. But Cain's current lead in the polls, maintained after the sexual harassment story broke last Sunday in Politico, suggests there may be something to his argument.
One rule Cain has broken is that candidates have to spend a lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire, making personal contact with voters who, legend has it, won't support a candidate till they've had a chance to talk to him three or four times.
Cain hasn't spent much time in the two first-in-the-nation states this year. When I went to his headquarters outside Des Moines three days before the straw poll, the door was locked and the place looked empty.
Cain says he spent time there last year, and in 2011 he's been communicating with voters nationally through new media on his trips to states with later primaries.”

Watching the Morning Joe read the latest polls showing the anonomous accusations boosted Cain's appeal this morning was priceless, as was dumb Mika's reaction. Last week they were sure it was dead.

So much for 'the latest flavor'. Joe and Mika are sure that Obama would beat Cain. Now Mika loves Huntsman.

[vanilla swirl]

” If all we had to depend on was the MSM these days,Cain would be delegated to just below Ron Paul in credibility. Cain truly is a candidate for an internet world. And it’s working for him.”

We know who is doing the accusing so therefore it must be false.
The King is dead (the old commie media)
Long live the King (truly free press of the internet!)

[Graewoulf]

” - - - the thought occurred to me that I was sitting next to a future president of the United States.”

Hey Michael, welcome to the “Cain Train!”

BTW, tell your pal Dr. Kristol of your new thought.

[miss marmelstein]

I would only compare him to Reagan in the sense of humor department. I don’t know him well enough to compare him in other ways. But any man who can give me a laugh once a day is gonna get my vote!