RedState recently polled their readers to see who they would like to see as the GOP Presidential nominee. The winner was Herman Cain.
Who is Herman Cain? Cain is a big private sector candidate – he was a former Pillsbury executive and later ran Godfathers Pizza. He’s also a talk show host and PAC founder. He had previously ran for US Senate in Georgia in 2004 – he came in 2nd place, but did not garner enough support to force a runoff. He’s a great speaker who, apparently, can energize RedState readers quite a bit.
He’s known among conservative circles because of his role in helping fight Clinton’s version of nationalized healthcare in 1994, that’s when he became a conservative legend. As the President of Godfathers Pizza at the time he challenged Bill Clinton personally to a town hall style debate / meeting – and he accepted. The result? Cain pointed out the flaws in the plan when he bold face asked Clinton what he should say to workers he could no longer afford to keep on staff due to the increased health care costs from the “employer mandate.” Clinton said that there would be a number of subsidies for small businessmen to which Cain replied, “Quite honestly, your calculation is inaccurate…In the competitive marketplace it simply doesn’t work that way.” This helped reshape the debate, of which conservatives ended up winning the day.
Now, Cain has said that he’s considering a bid for President in 2012. Should we take such a bid seriously? I’m not sure yet – he does have quite a fan base among conservative activists and knows how to fire up a crowd, but isn’t very well known to the general public. That said, he’s someone to keep track of – with a strong and motivated fan base, with enough money / organizational support he could make waves in caucus states.
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December 16th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Mr. Cain would be a great candidate.
December 16th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Herman Cain may be a great guy, but don’t you think he might be able to actually win a state-wide race first before running for the Presidency?
This speaks more about where Redstate is at than anything else.
If Cain can first get elected Governor or US Senator and then demonstrate an ability to govern, I might eventually be his biggest supporter.
December 16th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Is the Domino’s guy available? I think he’s a Republican.
December 16th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
SteveT nailed it: The guy didn’t even win the primary for Senate.
December 16th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Well I voted for him and would do it again if it weren’t for my support of Huckabee.
December 16th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Oh well…RedState says.
Gee. Where do I sign up?
December 16th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
A) He’s a potential candidate with great debate skills and a wealth of private sector experience.
B) He has a built in online support base which has, in the past, shown they can help candidates fundraise.
Will he go anywhere? I have no idea – but if he decides to run, I wouldn’t immediately shrug off his candidacy.
December 17th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Were he to run, I’d be curious if the MSM and the liberal talking heads would declare those who were opposed to him as racists, in the manner they did with Obama. I am very impressed with his commonsense perspective on issues.
December 17th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Herman Cain Set to Form Exploratory Committee Soon…
Herman Cain, who I profiled earlier this week, has told the Daily Caller that the formation of an exploratory committee is likely to occur in the next several weeks. Here’s an excerpt from the article, including comments from Cain:“Bottom line is, all…
December 19th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
[...] Herman Cain is going to have some serious legs when he begins visiting Iowa.”Matthew Newman at Race 4 2012:Now, Cain has said that he’s considering a bid for President in 2012. Should we take such a bid [...]
December 20th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
We’ve developed a significant base of volunteer organizers. DraftCain.org has tapped individuals in all 50 states and growing daily.
If you are interested in participating in supporting Herman Cain, please visit http://draftcain.org.
January 11th, 2011 at 10:08 pm
[...] Cain, who I profiled earlier this week, has told the Daily Caller that the formation of an exploratory committee is likely to occur in the [...]