The Other McCain

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

Cain HQ: ‘Crazy, Hectic, But Fine’

Posted on | October 28, 2011 | 66 Comments

“Cain’s success represents a journey into uncharted political waters, like an ancient explorer sailing off toward the part of the map where the legend reads, ‘Here Be Dragons.’ “
— Robert Stacy McCain, The American Spectator, “Herman Cain Sails Into Uncharted Seas”

Admit it: If Herman Cain decided to call it quits tomorrow, what he has accomplished in the past 10 months would still be an achievement of historic proportions. A guy who began the campaign as “Herman Who?” has, against all odds and despite the active opposition of the GOP Establishment, emerged as the legitimate national front-runner, with barely nine weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3.

Having already accomplished what no one ever believed he could, Herman Cain must now turn this astonishing phenomenon into the kind of campaign that can actually win the Republican nomination and then go on to defeat Barack Obama next November.

Everybody who knows anything about politics keeps saying that this can’t possibly happen and yet . . .

Let’s go back to Nov. 13, 2010, a little more than a week after last year’s mid-term election. I had just gotten back from my long final campaign road-trip of that crazy year. VA-9, GA-12, FL-2 and all the way to FL-22, where I spent Election Night at the victory celebration for Allen West. When I finally got back home to the Maryland hills, I was exhausted beyond words and there was a blog-war going on between Patterico and Jeff Goldstein about the Christine O’Donnell campaign in Delaware. “No regrets,” I said on Nov. 12, and the next day, as the recriminations continued, I wrote:

People are sick and tired of that same old politics-as-usual crap. . . .
The Republican Party “brand damage” problem, a legacy of the Bush era, is not going to be repaired by nominating unprincipled career politicians . . .
Yeah: Herman Cain. Having backed a few can’t-possibly-win underdogs in the past couple of years — I went all-in for Rubio when he was 35 points down — I’m taking a long, hard look at that dark horse. . . .

This isn’t the first time I’ve reminded readers of this. Three weeks ago, I summarized the narrative arc: “From Doug Hoffman to Herman Cain: Continuing the Tea Party Momentum.” And that’s what it’s about to me — whether the conservative movement and the Republican Party are going to be controlled by Establishment insiders and influential pundits, or whether the rank-and-file grassroots can choose their own leaders without the guidance of self-appointed elites. What is at stake, really, is the “consent of the governed.”

The stakes are very high and the business of choosing a presidential nominee is very serious, because the alternative to Republican victory is the continuance of the Obama administration’s disastrous rule.

‘Don’t … Tell Me It’s Raining’

As I write this paragraph — it’s about 1:20 p.m. ET — Megyn Kelly on Fox News is transparently trying to formulate the GOP nomination contest as a fight between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, while dismissing Herman Cain’s campaign as a hopeless joke.

This has been the message telegraphed by Fox for the past five days and, to employ the title of one of Cain’s books, They Think You’re Stupid. The folks who run Fox News clearly have decided that Cain can’t be allowed to win, and they think viewers are too stupid to understand how the network’s “Fair and Balanced” coverage is being used to promote the perception of Cain as “not up to the task,” to quote Karl Rove.

“Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.” IYKWIMAITYD.

There is not a conspiracy against Herman Cain, but rather a consensus of belief among the Establishment insiders that Cain isn’t their kind of guy. And when you reply to them by expressing a stubborn belief that “We, the People” have the right to decide such matters, the insiders will respond by accusing you of being un-serious.

Among their other selfish arrogations of authority, you see, the insiders have appointed themselves the arbiters of political seriousness. Thus the ascent of Herman Cain — still leading the Real Clear Politics national average, despite relentless opposition from the elites — creates a crisis of credibility for those who, like Karl Rove, claim a monopoly on political wisdom. (Wall Street Journal headline: “Weird Smoking Ad Boosts Cain’s Cash Haul.” That sound you just heard was Karl Rove’s head exploding.)

In a way that any student of Hayek should understand, Herman Cain’s success refutes the conceit of centralized planning in politics, just as the success of the free market refutes the notion of a planned economy.

When the insiders try to dictate our political choices, by anointing some candidates and dismissing others as “not up to the task,” it is directly analogous to economic planners attempting to substitute their own preferences for the free choices of consumers in the marketplace. And just as economic planning destroys the essential vitality of the free market, so too do these interventions by the political elite destroy the essential vitality of the grassroots.

Once in a Lifetime

The central-planning model of politics — which dominated the GOP when Karl Rove was at the White House and Ken Mehlman ran the RNC — is deeply implicated in the Republican “brand damage” problem that led to landslide victories for Democrats in 2006-08. It was only with the rise of the Tea Party in 2009-10 that the conservative movement recaptured the momentum it lost during the Bush/Rove/Mehlman era.

And now, with Herman Cain riding high in the polls, conservatives are presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to repudiate the GOP insiders’ attempt to resuscitate their central-planning model of party control, which would result inevitably in the nomination of the Establishment favorite Mitt Romney.

People who dismiss the Cain campaign as “un-serious” are making the assumption that Herman Cain and his staff are unaware of how high the stakes really are. I, on the other hand, take them at their word when they say they have a strategy, and are doing all in their power to turn their momentum into a decisive victory. It was nearly nine o’clock last night when I placed a call to Cain HQ:

Meanwhile, the atmosphere at Cain’s Atlanta headquarters is “crazy, hectic, but fine,” campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon said in a telephone interview last night. “We’re doing well. We’re raising a million dollars a week and we’re expanding staff rapidly. We’re happy with the direction we’re going in.” The increase in staff includes an expansion of Cain’s much-criticized operations in Iowa, where the campaign recently hired former state GOP chairman Steve Grubbs to lead its effort in the Hawkeye State. Gordon said that Cain, who just returned from a two-day trip to Iowa, will be soon spending more time in the state that holds its first-in-the-nation caucus Jan. 3, now barely nine weeks away. . . .

Read the whole thing. The fact that someone as senior on the staff as Gordon was answering his phone at Cain HQ at 9 p.m. is, to my mind, evidence that they are taking this very seriously indeed. As crazy and chaotic as the Cain campaign may seem, they know they’ve got a serious chance to win, and Karl Rove be damned.

* * * * *

What You Can Do
If you agree with the logic of the foregoing argument, why don’t you copy it in an e-mail and send it to your Republican representative, senator, governor or state GOP chairman? You can also e-mail it to your favorite local or national talk radio host. Also, by using the “share” button at the bottom of the post, you can share it via Twitter or post it to Facebook. Thanks in advance for your help in spreading the word.
— RSM

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Category: Conservatism 101, Election 2012, Herman Cain, Tea Party

Comments

66 Responses to “Cain HQ: ‘Crazy, Hectic, But Fine’”

  1. Finrod Felagund
    October 28th, 2011 @ 5:37 pm

    Keep up the awesome work, man.
     

  2. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 5:50 pm

    I am very impressed with Cain’s plan for a series of Lincoln Douglas debates with Gingrich.  http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=31660  Newt is still dead to me, but Newt is smart.  This is risky for Cain, but a lot less risky than doing interviews with CNN when you are tired. 

    Meanwhile, Perry is avoiding more debates.  Good thing for Texas that Travis, Bowie and Crockett didn’t avoid debates with Santa Ana. 

    Cain vs. Obama? 

  3. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 5:54 pm

    I honestly did not get the smoking ad at all.  But apparently people love it.   Hey if it works and drives Rove crazy…I am all for it.   Even Althouse is all into it (although comparing Cain to Mike Gravel is a low blow).  http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/why-do-people-have-so-much-trouble.html

  4. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 6:02 pm

    Hot Air is recognizing Herman’s front runner status…

    Well, at least some at Hot Air are. 

  5. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 6:06 pm

    Stacy:  I like your AS article a lot. 

  6. Shawn Gillogly
    October 28th, 2011 @ 6:22 pm

    I don’t think it’s as risky for Cain as many people think. Everyone knows Newt is a genius. But Newt is also a guy who doesn’t go in for ‘destroying’ people. So if Cain can come off as genial, folksie, and informed enough to belong on the same stage, he wins standing by appearing “Presidential” even if he doesn’t “win” the debate perse.

  7. Anonymous
    October 28th, 2011 @ 6:27 pm

    Doing an interview with CNN is no where near as dangerous as debating.
    No matter what you think of Newt’s baggage or even his political policy positions he is the best debater on stage by far. This is a very courageous thing for Cain to do and Newt probably knows it wouldn’t be to his advantage to be perceived as mean or condescending.

  8. Charles
    October 28th, 2011 @ 6:28 pm

    GOP establishment? The only reason Karl Rove is considered GOP establishment is because of 2000. Before 2000 he was not establishment and after 2006 he should not be considered establishment. Operatives, even if they have been around a long time, are not the establishment.

  9. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 7:00 pm

    I don’t know how much “active opposition of the GOP establishment” Cain has faced, in reality the GOP establishment never knew what hit them, and they still haven’t figured it out. The political establishment class in general remains as clueless as ever.

  10. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 7:04 pm

    The smoking ad is a work of genius. They don’t want to admit the smoking part was a vital part, they like to say that was just Mark Block being Mark Block. Bullshit, it was them saying, if you want to put an end to the nanny state and get the government off of your ass, vote for Herman Cain.

  11. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 7:36 pm

    I see that now.  I admit I did not get it the first time I saw it.  I liked the Herman Cain smile.  I thought the ad quirky (I did not hate it).  I just did not get the point. 

  12. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 7:37 pm

    It is good risk.  I has high upside (as well as downside risk).  You have very little upside in a good interview with CNN (do you really think they will promote you with it like…say Barack Obama?).  But you have a lot of downside risk. 

  13. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 7:40 pm

    But here is the thing, if Herman cannot hold his own in a several hour issue debate with Newt, then he probably shouldn’t be president.  Newt knows not to be mean or condesending.  But if they start debating ideas,  and it gets interesting, it could be a huge game changer for Herman Cain–good or bad. 

    If successful, Karl Rove’s head would explode. 

  14. Anonymous
    October 28th, 2011 @ 7:55 pm

    Newt’s spent three decades preparing and practicing debating.

  15. Anonymous
    October 28th, 2011 @ 7:57 pm

    I think it’s pretty obvious that all the Palin support which was basically hanging in the wings waiting for her to declare has now gone to Cain. He’s the only “outsider” that Palinistas  would consider.

  16. richard mcenroe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 8:05 pm

    He’s the only “outsider”, period.

  17. Anonymous
    October 28th, 2011 @ 8:22 pm

    Newt would wipe the floor with the entire field (including Obama) in a debate…particularly if it is one-on-one.

    However, he would not make a very good President.  I don’t trust him at all.

  18. 4n0ny
    October 28th, 2011 @ 8:28 pm

    Interesting idea. Could there be someone that tuned in to subliminal thought on the HC team? We’ll only know if we see it repeated. Otherwise, it was only Mark Block being Mark Block.

  19. Political Class Underestimates Herman Cain at Their Peril | The Lonely Conservative
    October 28th, 2011 @ 8:56 pm

    […] pulling in somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million per week, expect his campaign organization to expand and improve.People who dismiss the Cain campaign as “un-serious” are making the assumption that Herman Cain […]

  20. Christy Waters
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:04 pm

    So much for “We report, you decide.” #tripe

  21. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:07 pm

    I agree, Newt is a Master Debator! 

  22. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:08 pm

    He is practicing all the time! 

  23. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:09 pm

    Newt is practicing is Master Debating all the time.  Mostly looking in the mirror while he does it.  It is a good technique for Newt. 

  24. Anonymous
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:10 pm

    If whoever the nominee is could use Newt as Pinch Debater we’d have it made.

  25. Adjoran
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:10 pm

    A good interview with CNN doesn’t affect how they promote it because they will leave a conservative’s good answers on the cutting room floor, or edit them to appear a response to a different question that makes no sense. 

    The only safe approach to a CNN interview is to speak only of what a biased leftist propaganda organ they are.  None of it will air, but they can’t hurt you with it, either.

  26. Adjoran
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:12 pm

    Some people believe if you are not ALL IN for their candidate, you are a subversive enemy making unfair attacks. 

  27. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:18 pm

    I wouldn’t want to be wiping the floors after Newt showed off his Master Debating skills.  It would be messy. 

  28. Political Class Underestimates Herman Cain at Their Peril | Herman Cain PAC
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:22 pm

    […] pulling in somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million per week, expect his campaign organization to expand and improve. People who dismiss the Cain campaign as “un-serious” are making the assumption that Herman […]

  29. Anonymous
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:23 pm

    Travis, Bowie, and Crockett didn’t avoid a thing. What they did was realize that pinning Santa Ana in place around the Alamo to give Houston time to mobilize was worth the sacrifice.

  30. Zilla of the Resistance
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:24 pm

    Yep. I bet the ad had NYC’s tobaccynazi Bloomberg browning up his shorts!

  31. Zilla of the Resistance
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:25 pm

     I thought Herman’s smile at the end was the best part, HE ‘gets us’, the RINO machine does NOT.

  32. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:29 pm

    That was my point–Travis, Bowie and Crockett did not run away from a fight…

    Unlike Rick Perry who is running from these debates. 

  33. Adjoran
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:32 pm

    Oh, get real!  Now Fox News is part of the “Establishment conspiracy,” eh? 

    Because they don’t immediately jump on the bandwagon of a long-shot candidate who has had a whole month in the media spotlight?  Because their paid commentators who’ve covered Presidential elections since Reagan or before don’t see any organization, very much money, a full schedule, or any precedent for a candidate who’s never been an elected Governor, Veep, Representative, or Senator, or a General to win a major party nomination?

    And is “Establishment” the new “RINO” slur, since every elected Republican at any level has already been labelled RINO by some irate conservative critic?  Isn’t virtually every Republican holding elective or party office now part of “the Republican Establishment” except for perhaps Ron Paul or some similar nutbar?  Or do people like Bachmann who ran for leadership positions and lost still qualify as being . . . “non-establishment” or whatever label you’ve chosen for those who agree with you on pretty much everything and never cast a vote you dislike?

    Cain has a chance now, but I guarantee you his chances do NOT improve with a substantial portion of his supporters whining already about every other Republican being unfaaaaaaaaaaiir.

  34. BradMarston
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:40 pm

    I was just at a Massachusetts GOP event for Senator Scott Brown. Before people scream at me for being a God Damned Rino be aware that I am a GOP Ward Chairman and Treasurer of the Boston Republican City Committee. So 1) I have to be at these kinds of events and 2) I am out there fighting the fight in a very tough political environment.

    That being said I was wearing my Cain 2012 button and was amazed at how many people came up to me and wanted to talk about Mr. Cain. There were three people carrying Who is Herman Cain?

    I even asked former Republican Candidate for Governor Charlie Baker if he would get on board the Cain Train once Mitt Romney dropped out. Charlie didn’t like the question but it was a blast asking him. 🙂 

  35. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:46 pm

    http://twitter.com/#!/proteinwisdom/status/130063026744332288

    http://www.therightscoop.com/cain-if-im-preparing-for-a-speech-i-do-tell-people-to-shut-up/

    Funny stuff. 

  36. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 9:48 pm

    That alone would have made it worth it (I recognize in hindsight)

  37. Joe
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:09 pm

    wow.  I mean that in a pround way.  this is the sort of enthusiasm that could take him all the way. 

  38. Shawn Gillogly
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:10 pm

    No, because their reporters have been feeding the “Romney inevitability” meme from Day 1. And they have Rove on every day telling everyone how only Romney can face the might Obama Dragon. It’s a constant parade of Romney surrogates on Fox.

  39. Shawn Gillogly
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:12 pm

    The fact he didn’t like the question is telling, isn’t it? Pose the argument to the Establishment this way: If you can’t understand the concept of Party Loyalty when a Conservative wins nomination, in a conservative electorate, then don’t be surprised when you can hold the GOP 2014 election in a phone booth.

  40. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:27 pm

    There was no other reason for the cigarette. Remember, the daisy ad was only shown once.

  41. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:29 pm

    I think he’d at least be a mixed bag, at worst. One thing is patently clear, he’d try his best to reform the education system from the pre-school level all the way up to university. Not many people realize just how important that is, but he does.

  42. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:31 pm

    What Shawn said.

  43. Bill Steward
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:40 pm

    Great article,  I agree and have been expressing most of these same frustrations for a while now, though not nearly as well..

  44. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:43 pm

    I thought this was good from Fred Thompson’s Twitter feed-

    NY Daily News: Cain’s use of word “cornbread” “troubling” Yes, why can’t
    he talk about “arugula” like normal presidential candidates? #tcot

  45. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 10:46 pm

    Plus it got everybody talking about Herman Cain, another intentional aspect. Everybody on all the talk shows was asking about it. The first thing Cain should do if he does win the presidency is say “The White House will now be a smoke-free zone. You’re free to smoke there if you damn well please.”

  46. ThePaganTemple
    October 28th, 2011 @ 11:17 pm

    The best thing to do with an interview with them or anybody else is to demand you have your own cameraman/videographer there to record everything that transpires. That was they know up front they can’t get away with their monkeyshines.

  47. Robb714
    October 29th, 2011 @ 12:04 am

    You summed up everything I have been tweeting for over a week now. Great job! When Cain wins, I want to see Karl Rove have to kiss James Carville. No, not really, just depositing them on a disserted island together will do.

  48. Anonymous
    October 29th, 2011 @ 2:08 am

    Maybe he’s only following the most “Interesting Man in the World’s” career advice.

  49. Joe
    October 29th, 2011 @ 2:17 am

    What?  Having a Dos Equis?  You have them after you kick ass in your debate. 

    Although it would be cool to have a beer on the podium during the debate. 

  50. Anonymous
    October 29th, 2011 @ 3:31 am

    No the “Most Interesting Man in the World’s” career advice is “find the one thing that you do not do well and then do not do that thing”.