Cain leads, Newt is the doer. You don’t put the doer in charge, you put the leader.
Except Cain has never really been a “leader” in that sense either. He’s been a corporate manager, and a spokesperson, and a talk show host. And several other cool jobs that also didn’t involve leading.
Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, was the LEADER of the 1994 republican revolution. He was the Speaker of the House — an elected office 3rd in line to the President, bestowed upon him by his collegues because of his leadership abilities.
You do make a ogod point though, that we shouldn’t elect a President based on a good idea they have — what we need is a president who can recognize good ideas and then champion them through the legislative process. If 9-9-9 was any good, Gingrich could get it passed as easily as Cain, actually more easily because Gingrich has experience in the legislative process.