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NOVEMBER 18, 2011 Cain’s Knowledge-Deficit Disorder He is running for president knowing little about major matters of public import. Poor Rick Perry. His “brain freeze” is indelible, otherwise it would forever be eclipsed by Herman Cain’s more cringe-inducing meanderings on Libya. At a meeting with the editors of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cain was asked whether he agreed with Pres. Barack Obama’s handling of Libya. You would think he had been asked who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, Cain’s joshing description of a prototypical gotcha foreign-policy question. What ensued was the longest five minutes of an editorial-board meeting ever. Cain...

Herman Cain, who's security team manhandled multiple reporters recently, became the first GOP candidate to receive Secret Service protection in this election cycle--and Cain's spokesman, J.D. Gordon said skirmishes with journalists prompted the decision, The Washington Post reported. "Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said Thursday night that the campaign asked for the protection after The Washington Post posted an article online that morning detailing a series of physical skirmishes involving journalists at Cain rallies."

Herman Cain has defied the political odds so far in the face of campaign adversity, and it looks as if he has the GOP’s conservative base to thank for it. The last month of Cain’s presidential campaign has read like a textbook for how to doom a candidacy: having to deny allegations of sexual harassment, bungling important foreign-policy questions while saying he’s not “supposed to know anything” on the subject, releasing a bizarre Web ad and canceling an editorial board meeting with a key New Hampshire newspaper. And yet, in an Iowa State University poll released Thursday, the former Godfather’s...

MANCHESTER, N.H.–It was enlightening while it lasted. Herman Cain’s campaign will no longer allow videotaping of the Republican presidential candidate’s meetings with newspaper editorial boards. Campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon says the new edict has nothing to do with the fact that Mr. Cain bumbled for several minutes earlier this week when members of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorial board asked him, on video, whether he agrees with President Barack Obama’s handling of events in Libya. In a TV interview here Thursday, Mr. Cain referred to his ceiling-staring brain freeze in Milwaukee as a “powerful pause.” He added that that his fumbling,...

7:13 p.m. | Updated Herman Cain will get protection from the United States Secret Service starting Thursday night as he continues to campaign for the presidency, representatives of the agency and Mr. Cain’s campaign said. The protection was authorized by Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, after a request from Mr. Cain’s campaign, according to George Ogilvie, a spokesman for the agency. “I can confirm the Secret Service has been authorized to provide protection to presidential candidate Herman Cain,” Mr. Ogilvie said. Mr. Ogilvie declined to say why the protection was requested.

Herman Cain has gotten the protection of Secret Service agents, apparently effective today, sources told POLITICO earlier today. A Cain spokesman didn't respond to repeated requests for comment. But ABC News has also apparently confirmed that Cain is getting federal protection. Continue Reading It's unusual for candidates to get such protection prior to receiving the nomination, unless there is a credible threat of some kind. UPDATE: “We are protecting Herman Cain,” Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said Thursday night. He said the decision was made by Homeland Security “Secretary Napolitano, at the request of the Cain campaign and in consultation...

Republican presidential candidate and businessman Herman Cain today requested that Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan recuse herself from the upcoming Supreme Court hearing on Obamacare. As a political appointee in President Obama’s Justice Department, Justice Kagan strongly advocated for the government takeover of health care and during the bill’s debate, then- Solicitor General Kagan actively supported a government-run system and sent a jubilant email to then-Justice Department colleague Laurence Tribe saying: ““I hear they have the votes, Larry!! Simply amazing.” “I request that Justice Kagan recuse herself immediately from hearing the Obamacare case,” Cain said. “Members of the highest court...

Herman Cain leads the Republican presidential field in Iowa, according to a new poll released Thursday. The Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG poll found that the former Godfather's Pizza CEO leads the GOP field in Iowa with the support of 24.5 percent of Republican voters. Cain is followed by Ron Paul with 20.4 percent of the vote, then Mitt Romney with 16.3 percent. The poll's findings are somewhat in contrast with a number of recent national polls that found Cain's recent front-runner or near-front-runner status disappearing in light of allegations that he sexually harassed a number of women while he was president...

According to a new Iowa State University Poll, Herman Cain is still in first place in Iowa, with Ron Paul coming in second. Here is how it stacks up: Cain: 24.5 Paul: 20.4

If elected president, Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain said Wednesday his top three priorities will be national security, the economy and energy independence. Cain spoke to close to 500 people, who attended the half-hour rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Following the rally, Cain attended a private fundraiser at the Palm Beach home of Town Council President David Rosow. Tickets to that event were $999 to hear him speak and $2,500 to have a private meeting and a photo with him. Although the event was scheduled for 5 p.m., Cain took the stage at 6:10 p.m. “We are...

TRENTON, N.J.—The first woman known to have filed a sexual harassment claim against GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain while he ran a trade group shows no interest in revealing her identity or publicly discussing her accusations against the Georgia businessman. The woman, who works for one of New Jersey's largest lobbying firms, has deliberately made herself scarce. ----break--- The firm's founder, who didn't return calls from the AP seeking comment, has close ties to Gov. Chris Christie, who threw his support to Mitt Romney after deciding against entering the GOP presidential campaign himself. Another partner helped Romney in his 2008...

While Herman Cain’s foreign policy stumbles have raised questions about his command of the facts, he says he would consult with military officials and other expert advisers to guide him through the thicket of world affairs.So who might advise a President Cain? Henry Kissinger, the 88-year-old former secretary of state, has already turned down returning to that job in a Cain administration, the candidate says.“He said he’s perfectly happy doing what he’s doing,” Mr. Cain told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.In a new video excerpt posted on the newspaper’s Web site, Mr. Cain responds to a question from editors and reporters...

You won’t believe me until you click play but this is much worse than Perry’s brain lock at the debate last week. Perry lost his train of thought; Cain doesn’t have a train at all here, to the point where he needs confirmation from the interviewer of what Obama’s position on Libya actually was. Eventually he produces some boilerplate about not supporting the opposition until you’re sure who’s in it and of course not making a decision as president until he has all the information, which is a standard Cain fallback talking point whenever he gets in trouble on a...

Anyone who saw the debate on Saturday night and observed Herman Cain’s performance clearly saw a man who was terrified of the questions he was being asked and was hoping to be noticed as little as possible. Apparently, there was a good reason for that. Herman Cain apparently sat down with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorial board to talk foreign policy and, well… this happened. Now, normally I would include a description of what happened in this video but this is one of those videos you really do have to see to believe. You cannot grasp how utterly clueless Cain is...

Gloria Cain has broken her silence on allegations against her husband and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual misconduct while at the National Restaurant Association. Mrs. Cain will appear on Greta van Susteren’s On the Record tonight in a prerecorded interview, insisting that “my husband respects women,” and that he would have to have a “split personality” for these charges to be true. Fox has offered a preview of Mrs. Cain’s remarks, which other news services have also picked up: Gloria Cain, wife of Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, says claims of sex harassment against her husband left her...

Herman Cain has had a tough two weeks. So, will he remain the “flavor of the day?” Or of the month? Or even into January, when the first Republican presidential primaries and caucuses will be held? That is, can the successful Georgia businessman’s popularity surge among likely GOP voters be sustained, in light of accusations by anonymous women, and some not anonymous, that he sexually harassed them— charges he strongly denies—during his tenure as the National Restaurant Association’s chief executive officer? ((snip)) That said, however, a great majority of Cain’s critics go after him, not because he is black necessarily,...

(Buried deep down in the 6th paragraph were the actual polling results) "In the full sample, based on four days of national polling, Romney finished second with 25 percent (behind Cain’s 27 percent). Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry tied for third at 14 percent." ---break---The POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll of 1,000 likely voters, including 436 Republicans, was conducted Nov. 6-9 by The Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners. The nationwide telephone survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Businessman Herman Cain is the favorite of Tennessee voters for the state’s March 6 presidential Republican primary election, but female voters are far less likely to support him. That pattern is unlikely to change in light of allegations of sexual harassment against him, according to a new poll by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Vanderbilt University. Cain was the choice of 22 percent of 823 likely primary voters polled Oct. 28 through Nov. 5. The poll was conducted as the sexual harassment claims started to arise. Yet Cain’s support did not change much as the story...

Some conservatives like the estimable Laura Ingraham Newt Gingrich* aren't amused by this little exchange:   According to The Caucus blog, the Republican presidential hopeful was caught on tape Thursday making a wisecrack about Anita Hill, the law professor who lodged sexual harassment accusations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas 20 years ago.  Cain was making a campaign stop in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Thursday when a person in the crowd mentioned Hill. He laughed and said: "Is she going to endorse me?" And this is outrageous...how, exactly?  As someone who hasn't shied away from criticizing Cain's policies and campaign, I...

The Herman Cain campaign just came out with a list of chairs and other backers in all 67 counties in Florida. It’s the most extensive network of supporters announced by any of the Republican presidential candidates so far. The release is 9 pages — and you can read it here: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2011/11/cain-blankets-florida-with-chairs-in-all-67-counties.html