Former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain faced an enthusiastic crowd in his CPAC address today that quickly turned uncomfortable when he alluded to the sex scandal that triggered his withdrawal from the nomination contest.
“Just so there’s no confusion, these TelePrompters are not for me,” he quipped at the beginning of his speech to a thunderous reception.
“We must outsmart the liberals,” he said. “We outnumber the stupid people. Trust me, I counted them.”
Cain gave a hat tip toward the support he felt on the campaign trail, which was still very much evident at the conservative conference.
“I know that many of you were big supporters of mine when I was running for president,” he said. “Thank you.”
Cain said there were two reasons he dropped out of the contest for the presidential nomination. “Gutter politics” was the first reason — which received only a handful of claps and lots of uncomfortable silence — “and No. 2, I chose to put family first.” The second reason received a warmer reception.
He said his current outreach initiative is intended to change Washington from the outside in, “even if your David didn’t make it to the White House.”
“So what I decided to do is create an army of Davids,” he said.
Cain urged audience members to contact their lawmakers — before the election — and talk them into adopting his 9-9-9 economic plan. A bus with Cain’s face emblazoned on the side was parked outside the Marriott early in the morning, representative of the mission he’s taking on the road.
He pointed out one guy in the audience who is running for Congress, has endorsed Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, and has earned Cain’s endorsement: “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher.
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