Free Republic

Cain is planning a new effort to promote his 9-9-9 plan now that his candidacy is over. It could not come at a better time for the Republican Party. (Those wishing to join should go to cainconnection.com.) He is doing a bus tour and making the rounds on television shows to push his substantive agenda and, in the process, breathe enthusiasm back into Republican ranks. The 9-9-9 plan will satisfy the libertarian impulse that underscores Paul’s appeal, particularly to the young. It will simplify the tax code so that it is a means of raising government revenue, not of promoting...

I have been hounded in media interviews to give them the scoop on which Republican presidential candidate I ‘m going to endorse. When I respond that it will be “unconventional,” they go nuts because they cannot conceive of what that means. That’s not the way they think. So they try to guess what it means based on conventional political practice. You will be endorsing yourself getting back into the presidential race, they guess. Nope. You will be endorsing someone that’s not in the race, they suggest. Nope. You will be endorsing two of the remaining candidates instead of one. No...

Candidate Cain boasts of his skill as a businessman, but while he sat on the board of Aquila, a Midwest energy corporation, the company fell apart, even as Cain helped dole out millions in bonuses to its directors. ...Green maxed out, giving $2,500 to Cain’s campaign committee. Green was the longtime CEO of two related Missouri energy companies whose boards Cain served on for nearly two decades, Utilicorp United and Aquila. And when Green wasn’t running the companies, his brother Robert was. Since 2003, when Cain launched an unsuccessful Senate campaign, the Greens have donated $10,500 to various Cain campaign...

Cain slammed by influential group of Iowa conservatives Cameron Joseph November 22, 2011 A top organization of Iowa social conservatives slammed Herman Cain as it narrowed its list for a possible presidential endorsement list. Cain and Ron Paul were dropped from The Family Leader's consideration, leaving Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann as the possible winners. Mitt Romney did not seek the group's endorsement. Headed by the influential activist Bob Vander Plaats, the group criticized Cain, saying he lacked "clarity on the key issues of life, marriage, foreign policy, and presidential readiness" — a major diss to...

Cain will sit for an hourlong taped interview with the Union Leader, publisher Joe McQuaid announced on Twitter on Monday... Just last week, Cain backed out of a Union Leader interview because the paper insisted on a 60-minute, on-camera sit-down, as opposed to the 20-minute, camera-free conversation Cain hoped for. The newspaper blistered Cain in a Monday missive titled, “Recording Cain: What’s he afraid of?” McQuaid told POLITICO’s Reid Epstein that Cain’s spokesman “called me up this morning and wondered if they could come in one day next week for an hour-long interview and have C-SPAN there.”

When Sarah Palin dissed Herman Cain as the "flavor of the week" in September, the Republican presidential candidate pushed back on her assessment. "I got some substance here. Okay? I'm Häagen-Dazs Black Walnut. It lasts longer than a week," Cain told Tonight Show host Jay Leno, apparently unaware the flavor was a limited edition..........

According to her attorney, former maid Nicky Diaz, who worked for former Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, was sexually harassed by Herman Cain. The allegation was revealed in a press conference today. The attorney, who would not reveal her own identity, said that Diaz told her, "He treated me like dirt." "He just laughed and turned his face to one side," Diaz said through her attorney. Cain's office issued a statement denying the allegation. "We never asked her for anything," the campaign said. Media commentators are saying that the Cain campaign cannot survive the latest allegation. Donations to Cain are...

Adding to the ongoing Herman Cain sexual harassment controversy, two sources have now confirmed to PJ Media that a female employee of the National Restaurant Association told associates she had been brought by Mr. Cain to his Crystal City, Virginia residence where she alleged “he had taken advantage of me.” Both sources claim to be politically conservative. One source, a male, told PJ Media: Herman took advantage of seniority and power with a young woman. It was an abuse of power.Implying that coming forward with the accusations was an ordeal for the young woman, the source also said: Who do...

I encourage everyone to take a deep breath, and let the campaign chips fall where they may for a couple weeks, without passing judgement. We are watching political ping-pong right now. We don't have facts on either side yet. Cain has been accused. Perry is now being accused by Cain. Romney is now being accused by Perry. Will Romney turn around and accuse Bachmann or Santorum? Time will bring everything out in the open that we need to know. We are all guilty of jumping to conclusions without any facts. The media is playing us, and we are letting them....

Herman Cain Losing Some Steam His troubles began once he vaulted into the top tier of Republican candidates, after introducing his 9-9-9 tax plan and winning a straw poll. Now his blunders on abortion, immigration and foreign policy have left political observers scratching their heads. Herman Cain's blunders have been blamed by his spokesman on fatigue, the fast pace of the campaign and the media taking some answers “out of context.” By Robin Abcarian October 28, 2011 For months, Herman Cain floated under the radar as other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination were poked, prodded and scrutinized by a...

Complaints about the chaotic conditions inside Cain's organization were highlighted in a New York Times article yesterday... Well-connected GOP consultant Ali Akbar, who has heard many complaints about the Cain operation, wrote yesterday: "To understand this article in proper context, you would have had to work on a dark horse longshot campaign. Rules and methods are different.… Volunteers rise to coordinators and staff positions quickly.… It's not a pretty sight, but many tea party readers know exactly what I'm talking about." The clashing of egos is routine within all campaigns. However, as many Tea Party activists have learned in the...

He is the man with the mustache who takes a rebellious drag on a cigarette in the Herman Cain Internet ad gone viral. "We've run a campaign like nobody's ever seen," he says before taking a puff. "But then America's never seen a candidate like Herman Cain." Meet Mark Block, Cain's unorthodox campaign manager. Perhaps no one is more responsible for the Georgia businessman's meteoric rise in the presidential polls than Block, a Republican strategist and tea party leader who's left a trail of questionable campaign work behind him. Block has been accused of voter suppression and was banned from...

I wonder why no one is critical of Cain's 9-9-9 plan because it is a tax increase on the disabled and retired? I live on Social Security Disability. My income cannot afford a 9% increase on my food budget.

A Pack of Nonsense Will GOP 2012ers Get Serious? October 26, 2011 John Podhoretz Memo to the Republican field: You’re running for president. Of the United States. Of America. Start acting like it. Stop proposing nonsense tax plans that won’t work. Stop making ridiculous attention-getting ads that might be minimally acceptable if you were running for county supervisor in Oklahoma. Stop saying you’re going to build a US-Mexico border fence you know perfectly well you’re not going to build. Give the GOP electorate and the American people some credit. This country is in terrible shape. They know it. You know...

Republican frontrunner Herman Cain, who has built his support among party activists with his anti-tax message and controversial 9-9-9 tax plan, has called the IRS an "overseer" and compared taxation to slavery. "Our tax code is the 21st century version of slavery," says Cain in a recent campaign video. "In a Herman Cain administration, April 15 will no longer be a day to be dreaded." Perhaps some of Cain's anti-tax fervor can be traced to his own past encounters with the taxman. According to documents obtained by ABC News, in February 2008, the Georgia Department of Revenue hit Cain and...

This "Cain Train" took off right after Sarah Palin decided she would not run for the Republican nomination for president. Since then I've noticed that Herman Cain fears no one to the right of him and seems to cherish the fight with those he considers to be to his left(politically speaking). Do you think that Herman Cain is the (CAIN+PALIN) express because of his conservative values? Can Herman Cain win if Palin won't endorse a candidate in the primaries? Do you believe Herman Cain has proven to be equal or better than Palin as a conservative? Finally, Why as Herman...

Fiscal Policy: This is a time for big ideas that take some political risk. Rick Perry's flat-tax solution largely fits that bill, and so do the proposals from most others in the GOP field. Then there's Romney. Perry this week finally unveiled the sort of detailed economic plan that, in a well-planned campaign, he would've had ready a couple of months ago. So it may be too late to help him much. But it's never too late to inject good ideas into the political mix. Perry's plan isn't perfect, but it would be a huge improvement over the laws in...

The best thing that can be said about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s economic plan and its Tuesday rollout speech is that before now, he didn’t have a plan, and now he does. He can check that box. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, and, as a good Republican, I support everything he said. The problem is, we have supported it all before. Our voters want and appreciate creativity. This didn’t offer much in the way of anything new. This program is Steve Forbes-lite. But it is what it is. Now he has to stick with it. “Cut, Balance, and Grow”...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Cain Seen As Strongest Leader; Romney As Most Intelligent But: Who Would GOP Voters Rather Have Dinner With? The following is being released by Clarus Research Group: A new nationwide Clarus Poll finds that Republican voters rate Herman Cain as the strongest leader, the most consistent conservative, and the best on the economy and jobs of the top three polling contenders. Mitt Romney is seen as the most intelligent, experienced and electable of the GOP's top three polling contenders for president. They also think Romney best understands foreign policy. Republican voters rank...

Two-time presidential candidate Steve Forbes endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry's presidential bid — and his campaign's flat tax — in an interview on Fox News. Forbes said Perry's plan will have "a very low rate, with great, generous exemptions for adults and for children," adding it would also lower the corporate tax rate. Businessman Herman Cain has said he is modeling his 9-9-9 plan on Forbes' flat tax principles — though according to a Forbes spokesman, Cain and Forbes have never discussed the plan. Forbes said he believes Perry's plan will be more appealing than Cain's because it does not...