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Posted on 11/07/2011 5:27:10 AM PST by 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.
I agree that aspect is a draw to people, and I like it as well. But there’s a strength that came through this past week that is good to see. Not that it hasn’t been there, but this past week just brought it more in focus. I don’t believe the MSM, career politicians and their junkies, have a clue as to his firmness and drive really is.
Cardinal Rules - written by the Media for the Media.
First rule - destroy Conservatives.
Second rule - publish lies, innuendos and rumors of lies.
Third rule - repeat until the Democrat is elected.
The reason your candidate of choice is polling in single digits is because of these sort of tactics the Perry supporters all insist on using
GOP Voters want issue based candidates, not candidates who spend all their time flaming out at the other GOP candidates in the race.
Your style of posting is an excellent example of why Perry went from 30% to single digits in the polls.
GOP voters have seen your sort of gutter politics before. They are use to having it directed at them and so reject it when they see people, supposedly on our side, engaging in them.
Perry will never come back as long as his supporters continue using these childish personal attack style politics.
You Perry supporters were warned in Sept to focus on the issues and drop the sleazy personal attacks. But the Perry camp though they were oh so clever trash talking everyone else in the campaign. Having reaped the wind, Camp Perry is now reaping the whirl wind from GOP voters.
So how about instead of the childish personal attack at Cain you habitual post, you try ONE time making a case FOR your candidate instead?
Ah but that right, when you cannot win on the issues all you are left with is this sort of Leftist style sleazy attack politics
How about you stop recklessly and relentlessly lying about Cain and try even ONE time making a case FOR your candidate instead?
True, you would certainly be ordained to judge “Gutter Politics”, looking back on your posting history.
Unfortunately for you, for every finger you have pointed at someone else, you have three coming right back at yourself.
Thank God that we have the Internet and other ways of getting the news than depending on the main stream media.
However, we get a litte insulated on forums like this and need to remember that the MSM is still a huge force to the general public.
Although some may think this has become the standard criticism, the fact remains that Cain has not handled this well and his current testiness with the press will not go down well because his previous incarnation as the jovial, affable grandpa type will suffer.
I don’t know how much this will eventually hurt him, no one does.
My big fear is, if it does take Cain out, what’s left?
We have two guys running who couldn’t get elected Senator; a sweet woman who’s pretty well self destructed and the one person I think Obama might actually beat because conservatives don’t like him—Romney.
We also have a great candidate, an 11 year veteran as governor of a huge state where he’s been a big success, but people here have decided to demonize him over false issues.
We may well end up with Romney. I just hate that. Obama is horrible ... he needs tobe gone.
I hate NPR and resent that I have to pay for it. Let all those people who listen to it, pay for it.
But it’s interesting that their love for our black brother and sisters does not extend to conservative black brothers.
We knew it all the time.
It wasn’t a slam against Perry... I was just comparing the fortunes of the two. When the guns of criticism turned against him, his drop came fairly quickly. Cain has been getting heat on various fronts for nearly a couple weeks now, and hasn’t taken a notable dip in polls.
That was my point.
That’s today, my friend. Wait and see.
I just saw the Iowa guy on Fox and he seems almost sure that Romney will win.
He cited the infighting among the conservative candidates as leaving the field clear for Romney.
If that happens, it will be our fault.
I’m not innocent. I have questions about Cain and have posted them. I’m proud to say I’ve never been nasty as so many people here are to Perry and Perry supporters.
There was an instance yesterday about a post I could not read because the pervasive nastiness would have kept me awake. It was a nice post about Perry’s son’s appearance in Florida and included some pictures of Perry, his wife and daughter, etc.
Within seconds, some of the usual suspects were on that thread like roaches crawling out of the woodwork posting childish, baseless insults, playground type stuff.
I think the mods should do something to stop this and I plan to complain the next time it happens.
Sorry, those “RULES” were not written by the MEDIA for the MEDIA.
The MEDIA plagiarized the rules from an historical figure of the last century...Josef Goebbels. He is their inspiration, possibly NOT in belief, but absolutely in methodology.
PS. Goebbels 1st rule did not specify CONSERVATIVES.
I believe you are suggesting the type of compromise that Obama suggests: i.e, let’s compromise by doing what I want.
I have a better candidate and I shall continue to support him until it’ over.
And, it ain’t over, sweetie.
How or where have they gotten you are backing PERRY? Assumption, projection?, because they hate Perry so much?
Cain has all the emotional voters at this time. Obama did too.
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If there is any wonder why the membership and donations on this forum are beginning to suffer, look no further than the reasons you just pointed out.
The hateful, negative tone on all the Perry threads, as well as, the deep personal attacks that are being allowed here, are not healthy for attracting new members.
And what you say about how the infighting is taking it’s toll, is very correct. The door is being opened for Romney to take it. Much like what happened in 2008 when McCain came from nearly dead last and took the nomination.
The fact is, we want OBAMA out, and WE DON'T WANT ROMNEY.
One of the others will be our candidate, I sure don't want to get to the end of that and have to retract/defend all the nasty things that have been said about that person.
At this point I see CAIN as the Emotional voters choice, Obama was as well.
I am not against CAIN, PERRY, NEWT,SANTORAM,or BACHMAN, but I will not vote for any of them based on emotions.
The nastiness has got to stop.
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