Herman Cain Sheds Dark-Horse Status in Crucial Florida
Florida delegates just amply demonstrated Silver’s point. Herman Cain was on the ground in Orlando by Friday morning, just after a sterling debate performance in Tampa the night before. Cain, the nomination underdog, worked hard Friday and Saturday, speaking extemporaneously to small groups of delegates — groups that reportedly grew larger and larger as the weekend progressed. And Cain was evidently winning voters over one at a time the way candidates used to do it — in person. They call it “retail politics.”
Retail politics is one of Rick Perry’s greatest strengths, too. But Perry was apparently resting on his polling laurels, choosing to fly out of Orlando instead of sticking around to engage with the Presidency 5 delegates. Not smart.
Rick Perry was leading in Florida polling by 9 points going into Thursday’s Tampa debate.Perry did so badly in that debate and Cain did so extraordinarily well that much of Perry’s support weakened in the aftermath. Florida’s delegates were ripe for the picking and Cain saw his opportunity to set the Texas brush afire with 9-9-9 common sense. People can call Cain’s win in Florida anything they wish but at the very least, it demonstrates his keen political instincts without ever having won a single election.
Cain still has the greatest line in the history of politics on that so-called weakness. When asked about his lack of political office holding experience in the first Republican debate, Cain got his characteristic fox look, gave a sly smile, raised his fatherly eyebrows and bellowed: Everyone running the government now has held elected office before. How’s that working out for you?
If there’s one thing Americans admire more than straight-shooting rhetoric, it’s an underdog with a genuine winning spirit. Herman Cain isn’t sitting on the bench warming his backside from the glow of his own press and hedging his debate responses with focus-group-approved lines. And because he’s fighting hard, believes in himself, and is willing to go head to head in selling himself to voters, he is moving on up and out of the pack at the back.
Floridian delegates got over their “not electable” reticence and took a chance with Cain. Cain says this is what you call “momentum,” and he’s turned around failing businesses enough to know momentum by its scent.
If Herman Cain smells electoral momentum coming off his Florida win, I’m inclined to take him very seriously.
Whoever said the next Ronald Reagan had to be a governor?
The people who created our national problems can not solve those problems.
They must be replaced with folks like Herman Cain.
The Elites will fight tooth and nail to hang on to what they have.
To them we are serfs and we should mind our place.
Speaking of overpaid, self-anointed “elites”…
Fox News’ Roger Ailes wants to think that we’ve grown weary of the Tea Party
Bzzzzzt, WROOOOONG!
I wonder what kind of insane double-standards the media will use against him…
“For one thing, the Florida Republican Party delegates have sent a very loud message to the high-rolling insiders in D.C. The conservative party base has grown very weary of its step-child status among the GOP establishment…”
That’s it in a nutshell. Romney and Perry strike me as establishment politicians. It’s time for such to go. No more of the “nudge, nudge, wink, wink,” “give a little to get a little” from the professional insiders that’s put this country into the crapper. The system needs to change.
Amen Abbie! Herman Cain’s win shows that we the people are tired of the establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle. What I like about Cain is his honesty and integrity as a man and a leader.
Mr. Cain is not a politician by trade, which qualifies him over everyone else to be president. No joke, as soon as WND came out with the (I have a dream Cain West in 2012) magnetic bumper sticker I bought one and used it to complete the accessory package on my 1986 Ford ranger 4X4 pick-up which also includes a home made brush guard and a gun rack, my friends here the mill where I work in north central Idaho are planning to vote for him as well. I gota tell you, it’s a real hoot watching all those raciest democrats starting to scatter.
“The conservative party base has grown very weary of its step-child status among the GOP establishment and are signaling that they might not just go along to get along this time around.”
EXACTLY! Perfectly stated! Thank you!
Yes We Cain!!!!!! Cain / Bachmann VP
Love his passion but he needs that MONEY:(
That’s the problem.
Perry (from an oil state) and Romney (with his business connections in New England) can count on plenty of support from rich Republicans.
Cain cannot.
Congratulations to Herman Cain. He won’t get the nomination, but he worked very hard for the win in FL. Herman’s biggest challenge is national name recognition. Moreover, Herman won (1) because he was the best GOP candidate in FL, and (2) because the supposed front-runners are horrid.
By the way, I hope the Herman Cain devotees don’t get as obnoxious as the Texas Perrywinkles. People would rather be informed and then form their own opinion. The Perrywinkles, like Perry “have a heart” himself, are far too sanctimonious.
Finally, let’s place Nate Silver in proper context. Nate is a widget head, a self-admitted stats guy. Much like the other recognizable pollsters, they are good at counting heads but run into trouble when attempting to take historical trends and project the future. Neither Nate nor the other commercial pollsters should portray themselves in such a fashion. It borders on malpractice.
You’re already well on your way to that, with the name-calling.
Every true. But the Texas Perrywinkles earned their names. They have worked very hard to push their candidate down our throats. At first I ‘had a heart’ but then again I’m a heartless conservative.
Ahh, so it’s OK for the Cain supporters to call people juvenile names, but not for Perry supporters.
Go back to DailyKOS, where they don’t mind double-standards.
Yeah, ConservativeWanderer wins that argument. You can complain about one group “name-calling” which strangely enough I haven’t even seen Perry supporters do that much but whatever. Can’t be a hypocrite a say it’s ok for you but not ok for them.
If Cain’s inexperience is a liability, it’s a liability easily remedied. He can tap Huckabee for VP and choose an appropriate cabinet (Bolton for State, Petreus for Defense, Ron Paul for Treasury/Fed Chairman, etc.). Part of being a good leader is knowing when to delegate and then delegating tasks to people who know more about them than you do. However, I’m apprehensive about the 9-9-9 plan, and I’d much prefer to see the Fair Tax enacted. I don’t like the idea of having a national sales tax AND an income tax; it should be one or the other, lest we turn into Europe. Still, the 9-9-9 plan, as offered, would be a vast improvement over the current mess.
Wouldn’t happen. Don’t waste the text space. I did have a laugh at Ron Paul for the Treasury. I thought he would want the Homeland Security job to keep Americans in while waiting to play defense when we pull all the troops out and wait for the eventual attacks.
You’re aptly named, I see.
“Still, the 9-9-9 plan, as offered, would be a vast improvement over the current mess.”
In all earnestness, I could only buy off on these (frankly contrived) percentages – and subsequently on Cain’s presidential bid at large – if they were predicated on a constitutional amendment fixing them in place so that the next Democrat President and/or Congress couldn’t just easily raise them at will. Without this critical control gate, his plan would become the living embodiment of the Road to Hell Paved with Good Intentions, and because it is missing from his current proposals, Cain will not be getting my vote.
Herman Cain is improving his skills quickly in this contest. Interview after interview he responds to baiting and belittling questions with poise, returning quickly to the issues at hand (jobs,jobs,jobs) with no hint of offense. This relaxed good nature is welcome relief from the constant crisis of the past few years. Greatness in men is only see-able in the rear view but there is something here that makes me want to work for this man.
The Florida Poll did more for Romney than for Cain, there will be no more worshiping at the alter of Perry. It will also start to define the fundamentals of the GOP horse race, which so far was based on cults of personality.
Good For Cain, he put himself out there and certainly deserves the results. But this is a Marathon and what happened in Florida is a net gain for Romney and Cain.
Primaries are about sorting. When it comes to sorting by the exciting-versus-boring criterion, Herman Cain is number one. So, what about the rest of his profile? Speaking, including improvised speaking: First class! He can beat Obama, who has saturated our tolerance for the mannerism of Harvard graduates. Leadership? He has already proven himself, putting profit back into a failing business line. So he just needs to convince us that he can pick talent, and manage it.
Don’t forget Herman’s work as a member of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform (aka, the Kemp Commission).
Herman is a fast learner and started off really well. He took on Bill Clinton in 1994 over Hillarycare and destroyed it. Pair him with someone with legislative experience for VP, Gingrich or Bachmann and he will trounce Obama. He is very quick on his feet and that debate will be a joy to watch!
“A joy to watch.” Please, Lord, let us see that debate! Preserve the United States!
This is an historic, deadly serious election.
I have a different take on Perry than “…Retail politics is one of Rick Perry’s greatest strengths, too. But Perry was apparently resting on his polling laurels, choosing to fly out of Orlando instead of sticking around to engage with the Presidency 5 delegates. Not smart. …”
Whether Perry can improve his debate performance is still an open question. BUT, after three debates in three weeks standing next to Mitt and being almost everyone’s punching bag (except for Gingrich and Cain who really do win all these debates), maybe next debate will be very different. All the candidates should each answer the same question even if it means fewer questions.
yes, Perry invested a lot of time and energy in FLP5, but I wish a few more pundits would note that Romney has spent five years campaigning in Florida, and just can NOT win.
I also find it very odd that Perry is getting bashed for standing behind what is apparently overwhelming Texas support for in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants who meet strict requirements. THAT is a Texas decision THAT is very 10th amendment.
ok, I am one of those disaffected dems that will vote GOP, and I like Herman Cain, and Gingrich, but I still think Perry can win precisely because he takes a beating and stays standing, not to mention, gotta love anyone who goes from lunch with Dominicans so far uptown that no other candidate even knows where it is, to standing up in public for Israel during UN week, and then winds up at a fundraiser at Manhattan’s intellectual Lotos Club. All in 36 hours. Broadest possible coalition that no other GOP candidate can even dream of.
Well, that may be Texas’ decision but it impacts students from out of state.
Why, for example, do children of illegals in Texas qualify for special in-state tuition rates when children born of US citizens from other states (including neighbors New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana) do not?
In effect, the children of US citizens from other states subsidize those born to illegal immigrants in Texas.
News flash.
I’m not aware of a single state that doesn’t offer residents–whether or not they were actually born in the state–a discount on college tuition. Usually a parent or the student himself/herself has to have been a resident for a certain amount of time, which varies by state.
So I guess we’re all subsidizing, for example, New Jersey’s residents’ college tuitions.
You’re really unclear on a lot of things, ya know?
I don’t think a state like Maine or Hawaii has to worry that much about illegal aliens from Mexico.
But states on the Mexican border–like Texas–have to be especially careful to avoid policies that make their states magnets for illegal aliens that slip across the border.
Perry is getting bashed for two reasons:
1. What are those illegals going to do with their college degrees? I thought they couldn’t get jobs in high-tech American companies due to their illegal status. I get it! Perry is just going to look the other way at college-educated illegals taking good American jobs, just like we look the other way at illegals working in agribusiness now. That’s the same strategy as the Dems’ DREAM Act: Let’s educate the illegals so that in future years amnesty will seem like the logical next step.
2. Perry insulted those who sincerely disagreed with his policy by suggesting they’re heartless. I might have expected that sort of thing from Nancy Pelosi, but not from a self-described “true conservative.”
A savy economist and friend of Herman’s weights in:
To get right to the point, it’s a very Reaganesque package of lower taxes and more freedom that can be divided into three parts.
1. His short-run plan, which he calls the “Immediate Boost,” is to slash personal and corporate tax rates to 25 percent and eliminate the capital gains tax.
2. His intermediate plan, which he calls the “Enhanced Plan,” eliminates the death tax and the payroll tax. But the most important part is the 9-9-9 plan, which is a 9 percent tax rate on personal income, a 9 percent tax rate on corporate income, and a 9 percent national sales tax.
3. His long-run agenda, which he calls the “Fair Tax,” is to eliminate all personal and corporate income taxes and adopt a national sales tax.
This all sounds great, but let me do a bit of nit-picking. I want to focus on part 2, particularly the 9-9-9 plan.
It’s fine in theory. Heck, it’s great in theory. It means low tax rates on productive behavior. It means no double taxation of saving and investment. And it means no corrupt and inefficient loopholes.
What’s not to love about a plan that achieves all these principles?
But here’s the problem. If you happen to be one of those people (such as me) who does not trust politicians, then we run a grave risk if we ever let the crowd in Washington impose any sort of national sales tax without first getting rid of all income taxes.
I have faith that Herman Cain’s heart is in the right place, but years of experience in Washington have taught me to always assume politicians will grab more power and more money at every possible opportunity.
http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/herman-cains-9-9-9-plan-is-great-in-theory-but/
Here’s a heads up to those in opposition to 9-9-9,
Herman Cain is a mathematician by training having received his advanced degree from Purdue University. He served as head of the mathematics department for the U.S. Navy. There are no disingenuous accounting gimmicks inserted to ‘muddy the water’. This plan is clear. We can trust the math.
From what I gather, the opposition is based largely on the fact that repeal of federal income tax (16th amendment) does not precede the addition of the national sales tax. Wake up!…slap,slap,slap,…snap out of it! As we are operating now this is a nation of men and not laws. The federal government on a whim and in our faces disregard any constitutional limits to their authority. Obamacare, NEA, EPA, NLRB, TARP, the list has become tedious of the ways in which government leaders of our time dis the natural human rights recognized and transcribed at our founding collaboration.
Free men can disagree on particular solutions to certain problems but there is no cure to be had when dealing with men of bad faith.
Herman Cain by all appearances is devout , sincere in his message, a competent and diligent performer and a natural leader of men. He daily earns my time and treasure in this effort.
Cain’s head is in the right place, but if his plan was enacted it would be the most disruptive thing to ever happen to this country with the exception of the three major wars. Massive numbers of people would lose big-time and massive numbers would win big time. That’s radical, not conservative.
In addition, the plan is easier to demagogue than Social Security. It would be nearly impossible to get people who don’t pay taxes today (which includes a lot of Republicans and independents, of course) to agree to pay a sliver because it’s the right thing to do to get back to a responsiblity based society; but to get people who pay nothing today to agree to 9% plus a 9% sales tax won’t happen, period, case closed. And all the righteous indignation in the world won’t change that. It’s a lunatic idea.
Why on earth would we want a president whose proposal has no chance whatsover to be accepted by the country. It doesn’t say much for the man’s judgement.
And don’t tell me there will be exceptions for this and deductions for that, because if there are, then it’s just the same old stuff with a catchy slogan.
Proreason, I think I have to agree with you as much as I don’t want to. Take New Zealand as an example, when they dropped their tax rate from the 80′s to the 30′s and expected a huge increase in tax revenue from the underground economy. It didn’t happen, at least not for years, they found when you had taught several generations to fiddle the tax man lowering the tax rate meant very little. Why? Once you know how to get away with paying nothing why would pay anything. In this case I think 9-9-9 would be a tough sell to anyone paying nothing at present.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a Cain/Bolton ticket.
Cain has zero chance of POTUS–never served in the military as an officer–never was a Governor.
He is a good salesman for his brand of pizza–this dog don’t hunt
If Palin decides not to announce, I’m in with Herman.
Yes. And let’s all remember what a reassuring political asset it was for Barack Obama to be able tout his illustrious military career (against a genuine war hero) and to be able to point to his years of experience as governor of Illinois. These were foundational experiences for “The One” who now occupies the White House. They should be mandatory experiences for all candidates. After all, we wouldn’t want to chance electing an empty suit or a blowhard would we?
After graduation with a degree in Mathematics and a post-grad in Computer Science, Cain worked as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Navy. If he had served, this is the same work he would have been doing in uniform. He is NOT ignorant of military affairs. We’re talking intelligence analyst, here. Kinda gotta get the bigger picture to do that job.
Obama had no job experience, and scant legislative experience. He has a college resume in which there is no paper trail or transcript, only smug silent affirmation of his greatness and his place along FDR, Lincoln, Cicero, and God, as his supporters swoon at his “brilliance”.
Cain went to college, majoring in something of value, and went on to actually work for a living bringing his field of expertise to bear in a variety of venues. He doesn’t look down his nose, he doesn’t have a perfect crease in his trousers that has been brought to our attention, and I have no idea where or if he goes to church. Considering his age, his youth was spent in an atmosphere of “white” and “colored” water fountains, as was mine, yet I’ve not heard him speak of the genuine racism I’m sure he suffered as a youth. For whatever reason (and I’ll bet it was his parents expectations) he knew he was smart and worked his way out of less than ideal circumstances relying on his drive to succeed rather than blaming his circumstances. I don’t hear people fainting to the sonorous baritone or gospel cadences of his speech as he reads a teleprompter. I see people reacting to the common sense of a man who has not only mastered academia but who practices his art outside of the ivory towers of self-introspection. And that he’s genuinely likable doesn’t hurt. It seems to me that what you see is what you get, and for a lot of us, it’s what we want.
Cain’s biggest asset is his sense of humor. That’s something he has in common with Reagan. He has done a number of other things well that aren’t getting attention. He has resisted becoming a whiney attack dog like Bachmann and Santoreum; his dangerous 9 9 9 plan is well marketed (as opposed to the other guys’ plans which nobody knows nuthin about); and he remains relentlessly upbeat. And I think he was cagey to campaign for so long without harping on his brush with death, and then bringing it out to slam Obamacare in a key debate…it’s probably the biggest reason he did so well in the Florida straw poll.
!HALLELUJAH!
The more I read about Cain, the more I like the ideas of the man. What’s not to like? He puts God, country and family first.
But more than that, I get a sense of ‘true grit’ in him. He’ll need it, with all the wolves circling.
Does anyone believe that this will not give him enormous momentum in Florida, that it will not snowball? If he works it, he will carry FL, an early State (tentatively scheduled for Jan 31) in the Primaries. Winning this will have an enormous effect on SC, a very important State (scheduled for Feb 28). Cain is from neighboring Georgia. If he carries FL, he may well carry SC, too. He would be off and running.
Let all the Dems in NH vote for Romney. Who cares? Cain should go for NV, MO, TN, and AZ, early, then grab AL and MI in March. Then, just grab up the entire South, except TX. It could be done. Momentum is very important.
Anyone who thinks this is not an earthquake for the Republican Primary is just kidding himself. I guarantee the other candidates sat straight up in their seats.
This was a great ‘wake-up’ call.
I adore Hermy… I can’t think of anything he’s said that has ruffled my feathers [unlike the other 'ken doll' candidates].
Who would make a great vice president for Hermy? That is the question?
Marco Rubio.
John Kasich, Ohio governor and former Congressman
the 9-9-9 plan is a dismal copy of failed plans from third world economies. As somebody already wrote: put some legal brakes to it, some check and balances, or it will be the road to hell.
politicians: why is that as soon as they come up with a bad plan they start gaining momentum?
It’s not a bad plan, not a bad one at all, just a very hard sell.
Dueling Black Men: Herman Cain and Morgan Freeman
Barack Hussein Obama hasn’t even officially declared his intent to seek a second term but his attack machine is already deployed against the Republican Party with Teamsters President James Hoffa declaring all-out war against those “sons of bitches,” Vice President Biden labeling the GOP “barbarians,” and virtually every Democrat slandering Governor Rick Perry as “dumb” and accusing the Tea Party of racism and Nazism as the Anointed One remains above the fray by playing yet another round of golf.
It’s hard to believe it will get worse over the coming months, but it will. Conservative Republican candidate for the presidency Herman Cain can attest to that.
Following Cain’s speech at CPAC some months ago, Cain got a taste of the future when Alternet.com characterized him as a “monkey in the window” and when MSNBC’s Janeane Garafolo called him “a person of color” whose candidacy was manipulated solely for the purpose of deflecting “the racism that is inherent in the Republican party, the conservative movement, [and] the Tea Party.”
( Just incidentally, Janeane is looking more and more dissipated lately, the consequence of either her twisted leftism or, well, of being Janeane Garafolo, or both.)
If nothing else, it must be conceded that when liberals find hooks–such as racism and those damnable, Satanic Tea Partiers–they never let go. And now actor Morgan Freeman has joined the insane free-for-all.
Herman Cain suffered from racial discrimination in Georgia, went on to graduate from Morehouse College, earned a Masters of Science degree from Purdue, worked for the Department of the Navy, served as deputy chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, authored four books, was the CEO of a major U.S. corporation, and supports the Tea Party.
Morgan Freeman left Mississippi to become an actor and doesn’t, yet he is accorded more credibility than Cain by the liberal media.
Now, why is that?
The 84 year old Freeman proved that singer Tony “Are We the Terrorists?” Bennett isn’t the only octogenarian who seems to have slipped into the dark abyss of senility.
In the interests of preserving his career, Bennett at least apologized for suggesting we caused 9/11 by bombing Muslims while Freeman has yet to apologize for his contention that Obama made racism worse in the United States, or his election did, or something like that by opening the door to, you guessed it, the racist Tea Party movement, or something like that.
Since he tended to ramble, it’s hard to tell eactly what Freeman meant as seen in the transcript of his chat with CNN’s Piers Morgan last Friday but what’s certain is that he firmly believes the Tea Party is “going to do whatever [they] can to get this black man outta here. It is a racist thing.”
Asked by the more politic and cogent Morgan, evidently trying to provide the actor with a gentle reality check, “Is it not Republicans, wouldn’t that [sic] say that about any Democrat president?” Freeman responded with a few headshakers, first saying, ”No, they would have gotten rid of Bill Clinton if they could have.”
Told by Morgan, “They tried,” Freeman rejoined, “They did try, but still. I don’t, they’re not going to get rid of Obama either. I think they’re shooting themselves in the head,” which, as we all know is far worse than shooting themselves in the foot. . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=5555.)
Something you Americans should know about the political consequences of a national sales tax.
I’m a Canadian. In 1989, our federal government passed a national sales tax (the GST). The party that introduced this went from 178 seats in Parliament down to 2 in the following election (that is not a typo, two seats).
The federal government came up with a plan to combine the national sales tax (GST) with provincial sales tax (the PST) in something that was called the Blended Sales Tax. Two days later they realized that the new tax would be called the BST so they changed it to Harmonized Sales Tax. Four out of ten provinces went for the HST. The provincial governments (some Liberal, some Conservative) that adopted the HST were all defeated the next time they came up for re-election.
Currently one of our larger provinces, British Columbia, has had a referendum on the HST and it was soundly defeated. Our largest Province, Ontario, is holding a provincial election right now and the ruling Liberal Party is in trouble. A large part of the reason for this is the Liberal Party’s adoption of the HST in Ontario.
If the Republican Party wants to play with the notion of a national sales tax, good luck to them. However, I would suggest sticking with safer ideas like eliminating Social Security and Medicare.
As an economist that has lived abroad for two decades in numerous countries, worked in over 20 countries, and analyzed over 50 countries I can state that Mr Cain is the only candidate that truely understands the nity gritty reality of what needs to be done to stimulate groth, stop socialist public financial hemoraging and create jobs.
I warned Republicans not to support the stimulus giveaway payback to the liberal base. (SIGH…what America could have done with that money if only they had been directed with a sincere target in mind). In economics policy tools can be focused to enhance possitively or reduce negatively focused targets to increase welfare for the greater good.
If Democrats really cared about America they would put a package together that would meet those ends rather than the self-serving elitist leftist socialist Anti-American policies to enhance their control of power.
Reflect on a simple fact: Both Ronald Reagan and Mr. Cain are survivors. Our beloved Ronald Reagan a gun shot, Mr. Cain stage 4 cancer.
If one doesn’t get moral clarity from either of these death defying experiences, it’s hard to say what will.
Yes, “the light on the hill” is now being lit and soon will burn very brightly.
Vote massively 2012! Because massive fraud is going to visit every single voting precinct in our USA as never before. Cain Can. God Bless America.
For Herman Cain to say he’s the dark horse candidate – is that reaganesque or what?
With his upbeat personality and experience from the ground to the top in private business he could be Reagan’s doppelganger, an old fashioned can-do American. His clear respect for people. People, not just those who stride the world stage. Saying it like it is a sign of a man to count on.
Aren’t Americans fed up yet with the comforting lies from politicians and the glamour boys who’ve never had a real job and wouldn’t know one if it hit them in the face? Their parasitical staff/army/crew/PR advisors just to get onto the gravy train of government and take the citizens for all they can? The constant promises to give Americans the earth and sky at no cost? What happened to there’s no free lunch?
Reagan also knew a thing or two about business and leadership. When he left the Governorship of California, he also left REMEMBER a treasury surplus. Since squandered by the types of people he knew while President of the Screen Actors Guild, many reds under the bed. So he also knew the worth of do-gooders promising the earth and sky at no cost — to them.