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Roger L Simon on Herman Cain

“He just kept on trucking. When unable to get a haircut because the barber would not cut the hair of black people, he bought himself a pair of clippers and cut his own hair. He does so to this day. (Take that, John Edwards!) This is the same man who put himself through Morehouse College majoring in math, got a masters in computer science from Purdue (while improving academically), plotted rocket guidance for the Navy, started in business at Coca-Cola, then went on to turn around the fortunes of Philadelphia’s Burger King franchise, take over the aforementioned Godfather’s Pizza chain, become the head of the National Restaurant Association, be appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and host a radio show into the bargain. And, of course, he defeated the Big C.”

Roger L Simon

I cannot see him in David Cameron’s inner circle, somehow. For all my worries about where it is headed, the fact that someone like Mr Cain (has to be one of the best surnames in politics) can reach such levels says a lot about what the US is in terms of how people can surmount obstacles to build a successful business despite prejudice and the rest.

13 comments to Roger L Simon on Herman Cain

  • For that matter, I couldn’t see him in Obama’s inner circle either.

  • After watching the last few debates…

    Putting questions to the candidates about “jobs” and what “jobs plan” they have is insane. It is despiriting to see that none of the candidates, except perhaps Paul and Johnson, challenge the premise directly and reframe those questions in terms of monetary and fiscal reform.

    Cain’s presentational style is simpler than the others, but his main thrust is tax reform and that is only marginally relevant to the problem.

    A year ago I wondered whether Christie might run, but instead there is this linguistic cripple from Texas who looks like he’d lose a chess match in four moves.

  • steve

    I don’t like Cain. Mostly because of his defense of the Fed. But, my parents who can be succinctly described as life long Republicans love him. They think it would be wonderful to trounce Obama with a black Republican. I am sure that somehow proves they are racists to Democrats.

  • Heard on the radio this morning about Obama, but applies to Cameron too:

    Do you believe that he could manage to get a pizza to your house in 30 minutes or less?

  • bobby b

    I cannot see him in David Cameron’s inner circle, somehow.

    If we didn’t have open primaries, he wouldn’t be in anyone’s circle.

    You guys should try one of those. Makes it less like going out to one of the usual agencies to hire a new professional manager.

  • Fraser Orr

    There is a lot to like about Cain, but there is also a lot to dislike about him.

    He has made some really troubling gaffs, relating to freedom of religion. Also, his tax plan involves the introduction of a Federal Sales tax. I’m in favor of that, but only if the income tax gets killed in the process. Giving the Feds another way to tax, regardless of what the rate might be today, is pretty scary in my view.

    Gary Johnson is an excellent candidate, but doesn’t seem to have any hope of winning the nomination.

  • PAt McCann

    Search you tube to see Herman Cain dismantle Bill Clinton and HillaryCare. That right there is worth my vote. I have been a Cain supporter for a long time. And if he is the Republican candidate, it will be the first time sine 1984 (RR) that I have voted FOR someone instead of AGAINST!!

  • Overhere

    I like Cain for one reason alone: the Democrats gleefully introduced a racial divide into US politics (no matter how incompetent Obama was they could chorus ‘racism!’ to end all debate) so the arrival of a black man with prospects of being president wipes out the moral superiority angle.

    Plus, Cain seems like he has the business background to understand that economies aren’t made up of questions of how much more you can spend than before.

  • Paul Marks

    The Republicans could (and most likely will) do worse than Herman Caine.

    Now Rick Perry has proved unable, yet, to debate (sorry, it does not matter how good your record is and how good your ideas may be – if you can not DEBATE you can not win the nomination, let alone beat Obama in the general). It seems that our dear friend Mitt Romney will be the candidate.

    A man who the Wall Street Journal editoral team (hardly an ultra radical libertarian source) said (on the “Journal Editorial Report” television show)….. his every policy was opinion poll and focus group driven.

    Indeed that everything Romney even says (even in supposedly casual conversation) is worked out in relation to opinion polls and focus groups.

    In short a man with no beliefs or principles what-so-ever – prepared to say one thing, and then the exact opposite (on the same issue) depending on the political circumstances.

    For all of his faults – no one could honestly claim that about Herman Caine (who is a decent man).

    And, the ulitimate confession, I regard Barack Obama as such a threat to the very survival of the West that I would, if he becomes the candidate, hope for the victory of Mitt Romney.

    Better a man with no beliefs or principles – than a man with profoundly evil beliefs and principles.

  • Laird

    I think Paul Marks has it exactly right. Romney does have a few good qualities and some decent business experience (not the equal of Cain’s, certainly, but infinitely more than the current Poseur-in-Chief), but on the whole I don’t get the sense that the man has any real center, any core beliefs. The same cannot be said about Cain.

    I have issues with Cain, notably his background on the Fed, his support of TARP and his advocacy of the Fair Tax. But I have even greater issues with all of the others. Perfection isn’t in the cards, so I’ll have to settle for the best on offer, especially when it is so superior to that which we have been enduring these last three years. (And frankly, even the worst of the Republican candidates would be vastly superior to Obama.) So at the moment, and barring some debilitating gaffe or explosive revelation, or the entry of some new and unexpected candidate (and not merely Chris Christie), Cain has my support.

  • Blaine

    Why didn’t he just go to a Black barber?

  • It’s not Obama, but the Republican Party that is the most depressing thing about the US politics.

  • Paul Marks

    The Republican party in the United States contains many good people – but, yes, the leadership are depressing.

    Barack Obama is what he is – a Marxist committed to doing all he can (in Cloward and Piven fashion) to destroy the United States and the West generally.

    To complain about him (and his Legion of comrades) is a bit like complaining about an earthquake or a plague. Rather pointless.

    But one can (sensibly) complain about the human response to an earthquake or a plague. The official leaders to the resistance to Obama could do a vastly better job than they do.

    As for Mitt Romney – some compare him to David Cameron.

    But, on reflection, that is a bit unfair to Romney.

    Romney has no core beliefs and principles. But David Cameron has the core beliefs and principles of his “liberal” left education.

    I know which I think is worse.