Posted on 12/05/2011 7:23:06 AM PST by SeekAndFind
When one loses a beloved pet, it’s generally considered very poor form to ask them about getting a replacement until a sufficient amount of time has passed for grieving and healing. But no such rules apply in the fast paced world of presidential politics, particularly when the calendar shrinks down to barely 30 days before the voting begins in Iowa. So, with the departure from the stage of Herman Cain, awkward though it may be, it’s time to ask the inevitable question. Where do his remaining supporters turn next? An editorial in the New York Daily News offers a few thoughts.
With the announcement that Herman Cain will suspend his campaign, effectively ending his bid for President, the other candidates have likely set their sights squarely on the votes he leaves up for grabs.
While Mitt Romney would benefit most from picking up Cain’s Tea Party supporters, it’s unlikely they’ll flock to the front-runner. Many conservatives see him as an establishment candidate who doesn’t understand real America.
Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, has adeptly marketed himself — somewhat inexplicably, considering his long career in Washington politics — as an outsider. He could gobble up Cain’s votes and gain considerably from his exit.
That strikes me as a rather shallow analysis which takes the fastest and easiest path to the exit. First, it’s important to note that we’re not talking about a huge base of support any more, but it’s still significant. The fact is – just taking Iowa as one example – much of Cain’s army had already broken ranks before Saturday’s announcement, primarily to the benefit of Newt Gingrich. He leads there with 25%, while Cain had already sunk down to single digits after leading during the previous month. But that single digit is still sizable at 8%. The untold story is that Ron Paul has moved into second, with 18. Imagine a hypothetical world where Cain’s remaining voters all shifted to the Texas congressman. (Note that I’m not even suggesting this is possible. This is a math problem.) That would put Paul in a statistical tie with Newt.
More in the realm of reality, if they all marched back to Rick Perry’s camp he would be back in double digits and showing the kind of sudden momentum the media love to trumpet. Other possibilities exist. So where Cain’s hard core fans migrate is still an important question.
Clearly it’s still too soon for some of the truly enamored to think about it, though. During the Huckabee Forum last night I displayed the poor taste to comment on Twitter that, were Romney to become the eventual nominee, I’d still support him, albeit unenthusiastically. Even though I hadn’t even invoked Cain’s name, one of his die-hard fans immediately shot back with a blunt attack.
my husband and i are either writing in @THEHermanCain or voting 4 him on our ballot. The campaign is only SUSPENDED
Fair enough. But the time is coming when reality will have to sink in and choices will need to be made. Is the NY Post editorial correct that Newt is pretty much the only game in town? Not from what I’m seeing. In one of the most unenthusiastic endorsements I’ve seen in quite some time, Da Tech Guy sighed, “Well, I guess it’s Santorum.”
In my Twitter stream, during the same time period, I saw a number of people talking about a “second look” at Rick Perry. I even noted a few Bachmann fans bubbling back to the surface.
And why not? For those final 8% who stuck with Cain to the bitter end, why wouldn’t they be taking a look at someone like Santorum or Rick Perry Two Point Oh? If they were attracted to Cain, clearly they were looking for the consummate Washington outsider. If that’s one of your defining criteria, is the first port in a storm you look for really… Newt? For all his positive qualities and abilities, “beltway outsider” isn’t’ exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Gingrich.
There’s another debate coming next Saturday, but it’s a horrible media slot and I’m not sure how many of even the most dedicated voters will be watching. We’re entering that political media dead zone where people tend to focus more on family, shopping, trimming the tree and waxing their skates. One week to ten days worth of additional polling should tell us where the remaining Cain supporters land, and it will be instructive to say the least.
I’ll be voting my conscience because I’m getting too old to think I’ll be able to slide by on excuses about voting for the lesser evil to my maker.
Someone will be along shortly to inform me that God wants me to save the nation but collective salvation is in reality collective damnation. In the end, we’re all on our own.
Most liberals seem to live in the cities.
Why bother electing a Nixon/Bush clone to replace the current LBJ/Carter clone?
Going to be hilarious watching you Newt Cultists work feverishly to elect him only so you can be knifed in the back by Newt on inauguration day 2013
>> Going to be hilarious watching you Newt Cultists work feverishly to elect him only so you can be knifed in the back by Newt on inauguration day 2013 >>
You mean like Newt Cultist Herman Cain?
You have hung yourself so many times with your own kindergarten words that you have become a caricature of yourself in front of most of Freeper nation.
We all need to do what is in our hearts to do. If we don’t have high standards and fight for them, we deserve what we end up with.
The mindless emotional fits of victimhood and rage from some of the Cain Train magical thinkers is unbelievable unless you consider many of them are those wierd and nasty Palin worshipers who’s love and faith was rejected by their first messiah lover. (Most Palin and Cain suppoters were NOT of this mentality.) Cain was their last hope of magicial political perfection and saving grace sent by God to them. They abused anyone who did not blindly worship the faith in their object of deliverance. Other candidates were the enemies of their faith based saviour and hence all the hate for competing canidates and their supporters.
Like any cult when the guru abandons them, they are on a suicidal mission now to burn down their house. Oh well... Their rage will consume them and life will go on with twenty more Ron Paul or Obammy fanatics.
No politican deserves such unquestioning faith from people. Without mindless idol worshiping faith, Obama would not be the President. Fanatics compete with one another for their saviour and the Cainiacs are competing for power in the same mindless spirit as the Obamaites. Mmmm mmm mmm Herman Cain of the nan nan nan.
Politicans don’t have a magical wand, are not perfect nor even wise at times and the country is in the crapper. Supporters have to keep a certain distance to critize them when they go off track. You do the best you can to pick the best you can get, but you can not will a politican to be great in this moment of dire need. They are all a human mess like everyone else.
So far he has suspened his campaign, not officially dropped yet, despite the glee and enthusiasm of the GOP/media in proclaiming that he has dropped. They seem to want to plant the “dropped” concept in as many minds as possible in order to peel off his supporters and make it true.
When did Cain endorse Newt for this election? Did this just happen? “He’s endorsing Newt” goes right along with that other meme of “He’s dropped out of the campaign”. When I looked a few minutes ago he had suspended his campaign, not dropped out and he had not yet endorsed anyone.
1st wife (1962-1980) – Jackie Battley battled uterine cancer while Newt committed adultery with to-be 2nd wife, Marianne Ginther.
2nd wife Marianne Ginther struggled with multiple sclerosis while Newt again committed adultery for 6 years with to-be 3rd wife, Callista Bisek, a former Hill staffer 23 years his younger.
3rd wife Callista Bisek, yet to be replaced.
People should remember that the other Cain, RINO Soros-sleeper John MC-Cain, also suspended his campaign yet was able to somehow get the nomination for president in 2008, anyone remember that? (Did LIEberal sleepers contribute to this result with their voter fraud and occupier/acorn type techniques btw? Wouldn’t doubt it for a second. The modus operand I history STRONGLY suggests this. This is why voter verification is crucial!.) Someone mentioned that somewhere I looked it up and saw Lettrman joking about it. H-Cain can do the same especially if his plan B gains ground and momentum. Hopefully his family can feel better about him running for president and he gets back in. This guy is an unconventional candidate he put the others to shame and I mean aLL of them winning support in a vry short amount of time and putting a simple effective solution to the current tax monster and arrangement. Because after Sarah withdrew he was the strongest and most viable guy to carry the Tea party torch... They kept wishing he would just go away but he kept winning supporters, such as myself. I think its interesting that both the Atlanta Journal Constitution and even the LIEberal (Soros message) Huffington Post said that Herman texted Ginger White 17 out of the 70 or so times that wasreported with the financially distressed “friend” which a busy Herman helped in the past. It sounds like the harassment was the other way around now that the details are out. Interesting that they made it seem like Cain was like this teenage girl sneakng phone calls and texts hiding from his parents in that report by Fox 5 News. Comparedto all the othercandidatesCain is the wisest and most practical and therefore the most reliable to carry the torch forward. He’s a Conservative not a libertarian so they don’t like his moderate approach to the monetary and banking reforms that are needed. His most ambitious plan is to overhaul the tax code and in their eyes this makes him a sell out but like Washington Cains leadership is about acting within the boundaries of what’s practical and what we know works. People should see what he has to say about these issues, which includes the Fed and the gold standard. This is when I started listening to what he had to say and how he planned to fix the out of control spending and nonsense going on in Wash DC and America. He’s a very unconventional man he is also “hard to kill” as he beat the odds when he beat stage 3 cancer? And turned around failing cmpaniesthat wereon the verge of bankruptcy and ruin which is where America is headed right now. The libertarians say he isn’t capitalist enough, Hispanics say he isnthumaneenough because he wats to enforce the borders... I hope he can build his momentum back up and recover his good name despite the APEARANCE of impropriety: “ As I said during my announcement on Saturday, becoming president was Plan A. Anyone with a big goal needs to recognize that you might need a Plan B, and our Plan B has a lot going for it.
Six months ago, most of you had never heard of me. You have now. A lot of what you’ve heard is not true, but I’ve got your attention. Keep listening, and if you care about the future of our country like I do, get involved. Unlike a presidential campaign, what we’re doing now can’t be stopped by scandal-mongering or polls. We’ll only be defeated if we give up.” Note: “ I talked about 9-9-9 so often during the campaign because it’s a major reform that would completely change the way we pay taxes, the way we do business and the way people manage their personal budgets. We need reform like that. Political consultants are forever telling candidates to “stay on message,” but I guess that doesn’t apply when the message is a substantive reform that would actually solve problems. Be that as it may, I am far from finished staying on message. The Cain Solutions effort will relentlessly push for an understanding of the real stakes our nation faces, and for a groundswell that demands real solutions.” To be continued..
Q: Did Newt Gingrich ask his former wife to sign divorce papers on her deathbed?
A: No. Jackie Battley is still alive, and the couple had agreed months before the 1980 hospital visit to seek divorce. But she was recovering from surgery to remove a tumor, and the former House speaker admits that they “got into an argument.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/12/the-gingrich-divorce-myth/
These rumors aren't that hard to check!!!
JohnRichardson: “She [Marianne] was not bitter about the divorce or angry at Gingrich, but it was clear that she'd been brooding about what happened for years, that the divorce introduced a note of unreality that permanently shook her life —- she'd been going along thinking everything was one way for eighteen years and then suddenly it wasn't that way.”
http://marriage.about.com/od/politics/a/gingrichn_3.htm
While he isn't a choir boy keep in mind his first wife started sleeping with him when he was 17 and she was his HIGH SCHOOL teacher.
His second and third wives both committed adultery with him so they aren't exactly the faces of innocence either.
Excellent post!!
if you have been bad mouthing newt, good for you. He is only for newt. Not trustworthy. Finger in the air an go in that direction. So much Political baggage that he’d have to pay hundreds extra if he flew in today’s airplane.
Its sad how willing tea partiers are to capitulate on virtually everything they claimed to stand for.
I had hoped tea partiers could save the soul of America together but it looks like we’re on our own as individuals.
On the other hand, there may still be some surprises in the future. I know my little local tea party group seems to be holding firm behind Bachmann and Cain with Santorum as an acceptable alternative.
it’s too bad Santorum doesn’t have a chance but he is now my choice in the primaries
I like Santorum as well. He’s been my acceptable alternative all along.
Bachmann picked up a hefty endorsement from Phyllis Schlafly today.
His second and third wives both committed adultery with him so they aren't exactly the faces of innocence either.
But it does make him a repeat adulterer which is factual. The only thing that was brought against Cain were allegations, not proven facts. Cain is alleged to be an adulterer. No proof or facts, just allegations. Newt has been factually proven to be a serial adulterer. Not something a conservative should be crowing about supporting.
Now, we have a first hand account from one of Gingrich’s daughters that this is untrue:
For years, I have thought about trying to correct the untrue accounts of this hospital visit. After all, I was at the hospital with them, and saw and heard what happened. But I have always hesitated, as it was a private family matter and my mother is a very private person. In addition, for the four people involved, it was one of a million interactions and was not considered a defining event by any of us.
My mother and I have both recently run into quite a few people who hold an inaccurate understanding of this hospital visit. Many think my mother is dead.
So, to correct the record, here is what happened: My mother, Jackie Battley Gingrich, is very much alive, and often spends time with my family. I am lucky to have such a “Miracle Mom,” as I titled her in a column this week.
As for my parents’ divorce, I can remember when they told me.
It was the spring of 1980.
I was 13 years old, and we were about to leave Fairfax, Va., and drive to Carrollton, Ga., for the summer. My parents told my sister and me that they were getting a divorce as our family of four sat around the kitchen table of our ranch home.
Soon afterward, my mom, sister and I got into our light-blue Chevrolet Impala and drove back to Carrollton.
Later that summer, Mom went to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for surgery to remove a tumor. While she was there, Dad took my sister and me to see her.
It is this visit that has turned into the infamous hospital visit about which many untruths have been told. I won’t repeat them. You can look them up online if you are interested in untruths. But here’s what happened:
My mother and father were already in the process of getting a divorce, which she requested.
Dad took my sister and me to the hospital to see our mother.
She had undergone surgery the day before to remove a tumor.
The tumor was benign.
As with many divorces, it was hard and painful for all involved, but life goes on.
Most endorsements don’t mean Jack sheet, but I think Schlafy’s endorcement will bring some people over to Bachmann...She has a lot of influence in a large portion of the silent majority....
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