The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Cousins for Cain?

Posted on | December 29, 2010 | 5 Comments

Who is that muscular giant with tattooed arms shaking hands with Herman Cain?

That’s my cousin Brian Buchanan, who lives near Atlanta and — last time I talked to him — was working as a nightclub bouncer. He sent me that photo by Facebook and told me that he took our cousin Pepper Ellis-Hagebak to hear Herman speak on the square in LaGrange, Ga., in May. (I’d imagine Pepper’s head exploded. She’s kind of a liberal.) If Herman ever needs personal security, I’m sure Brian would be available.

Meanwhile, a friend e-mailed to call my attention to Herman Cain’s October 2008 column defending Bush’s Wall Street bailout (i.e., TARP) in which he criticized TARP opponents as ”free market purists” — a category that would include Michelle Malkin and, uh, me.

My friend says that’s a “deal-breaker” for her. I’m sure a lot of Tea Party activists will likely say, to borrow a phrase from Ricky Ricardo, that Herman’s got some ‘splainin’ to do. But if having supported the TARP bailout is a “deal-breaker,” which candidate in the 2012 field is acceptable?

Elections are about choices and, with as many as a dozen candidates in the 2012 GOP primary contest, you’ve got to think in terms of what happens if your first-choice candidate is eliminated before Super Tuesday — and what happens if one of your least-favorite choices emerges as a front-runner.

We’re still more than a year away from the Iowa caucuses. How many conservatives might shift toward Herman Cain if he is one of three or four candidates still in the game after Iowa? Suppose, after Iowa, the four remaining candidates were Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain: Which would you choose? Of those four candidates, which is the least acceptable to you?

In the 2008 campaign, the one candidate I was not going to vote for, under any circumstance, was John McCain. The problem was that, after the Fred Thompson candidacy fizzled, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney effectively split the “Anybody But McCain” vote in the early primaries.

Suppose you’re in “Anybody But [Fill-In-The-Blank]” mode for 2012. So long as Jeb Bush stays out of it — please, God, no more Bushes! — I’d fill in that blank with Huckabee’s name. You may fill in that blank however you wish, but keep in mind that your favorite candidate may not be the final alternative to your “Anybody But” candidate.

So be careful what you choose as your “deal-breaker” issues. Mitt Romney was and is far from ideal, but in 2008, all that mattered to me was that he wasn’t John McCain.

Duane Lester offers ”10 Reasons Herman Cain Will Win the GOP Nomination in 2012.”

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Category: Election 2012, Family, Georgia, Herman Cain

Comments

  • http://thepagantemple.blogspot.com/ ThePaganTemple

    Is it true that Herman is also a supporter of Affirmative Action? I read that someplace, but don’t know if its true or not. That’s the only objection I have to him, if it is true, and that’s a fairly minor objection in the grand scheme of things.

    And there is also the absolute certainty that he will be attacked as an Uncle Tom, and the GOP answer to Obama. The implication will be that his support is a clever racist ploy. He will be attacked as Michael Steele redux.

    I do want to learn more about him, though my first inclination is for a ticket of Sarah Palin and John Bolton, depending on whether or not Bolton runs and how well he does in the primaries. Actually I’m not really all that sure Palin will run. I wouldn’t be surprised at anything at this stage. I wouldn’t be surprised if McCain didn’t run again. Anything’s possible where he is concerned.

    Gingrich isn’t going anywhere.

  • Pingback: What if Romney decides not to run? | Katy Pundit

  • http://twitter.com/caldodge caldodge

    Huckabee? The twit who agrees with Michelle Obama about the way to fight childhood obesity? The candidate who’s guaranteed to turn off libertarians?

    If he’s the party candidate, I’ll vote for him in November, 2012. Before the convention I won’t give that economic liberal the time of day.

  • Buchanan_wbrian

    I found one article in his own words about affirmative action from back in 04.
    http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2004/04/28/op_413767.shtml
    Also here is a link to his podcast http://feeds.wsbradio.com/TheNewHermanCainShow

    Damn I look good in that pic, thanks Stacy.

  • Buchanan_wbrian
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