Category: Politics

Herman Cain = AuH2O?

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My old friend Jeff Kuhner dares to make the comparison:

Like with Barry Goldwater in 1964, grass-roots Republicans are revolting against the Eastern establishment. Mr. Cain has many of Goldwater’s traits – the fire, the intensity, the passion and the willingness to challenge the GOP status quo. Goldwater was unlucky in that he ran in a year following the assassination of President Kennedy. The national outpouring of grief and sympathy made a Democratic victory inevitable. Yet this time, the country is in crisis and the Democrats are poised to be crushed in a landslide.
Mr. Cain’s rise stands as a stark warning to the GOP establishment: Tepid conservatives like Mr. Romney do not have the answers to the nation’s woes.

Read the whole thing.

Ned Ryun Calls for Bachmann to Quit; Bachmann Calls Ned Ryun a Perrybot

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Ned Ryun, son of former Kansas Rep. Jim Ryun, created the non-profit grassroots training group American Majority three years ago. Today Ryun issued a remarkable statement:

It’s time for Michele Bachmann to go. For the last two years, I’ve been cautioning about the dangers of individuals or organizations trying to present themselves as leaders of the Tea Party movement. . . .
Since her meteoric rise this summer and win in the Iowa Straw poll, her campaign has been plagued by losses of top staff, lackluster fundraising and a seeming lack of direction. Bachmann’s resulting plunge in the polls is troubling for the tea party, not because “one of their own” is losing her footing, but because the longer Bachmann stays in the race, the more likely we will see her shift to the right. . . .
In Bachmann’s case, it is clear that the campaign has become less about reform and more about her personal effort to stay relevant and sell books; a harsh commentary, but true. It’s not about tea party values or championing real plans to solve real problems. While other campaigns are diving into the substance, the supposed tea party candidate Bachmann is sticking to thin talking points and hanging on for dear life.
Every day the campaign flounders, it risks hurting the credibility of the movement. If she really is about the tea party, and making it successful, it’s time for the Congresswoman to move on. The Tea Party doesn’t have a spokesperson, and it’s certainly not Michele Bachmann.

When I call this a “remarkable statement,” of course, I mean Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Since when does the president of a 501(c)3 non-profit, speaking in his official capacity on that organization’s Web site, go meddling so directly in a Republican primary?

The Bachmann campaign fired back with a statement to CNN: “The strength of the Tea Party is all individual’s opinions are valued but the no single leader speaks for it. Mr. Ryun, who supports Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is entitled to his own opinion. And that’s exactly what he is expressing.”

Ryun denied being a Perry campaign sockpuppet, but the Bachmann campaign’s suspicion is understandable. If you look at Ryun’s blog on the American Majority site, he had said nothing at all about the GOP presidential campaign until two days ago when he endorsed Perry’s tax plan.

So on Tuesday, out of a clear blue sky, Ryun issues a pro-Perry statement and on Thursday, he tells Bachmann to take a hike. Just a coincidence?

James Carville Trashes Herman Cain

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Herman Cain “is not going to be the president of anything,” says Corporal Cueball. “He’s just trying to get some attention. He’s not going to get the nomination.” Yeah. Tell it to the voters:

Herman Cain takes the lead in the Republican presidential nomination contest as GOP voters continue to deny Mitt Romney clear front-runner status.
A Fox News poll released Wednesday shows support for Cain has quadrupled among GOP primary voters since late August. At that time, he stood at 6 percent. After three September debates, he jumped to 17 percent. And now Cain leads the pack at 24 percent.

The numbers:

Herman Cain …………………….. 24%
Mitt Romney …………………….. 20%
Newt Gingrich …………………… 12%
Rick Perry ………………………… 10%
Ron Paul ………………………….. 9%
Rick Santorum ………………….. 3%
Michele Bachmann ……………. 3%

Wonderful fact about our two-party system: When it’s time to choose the GOP nominee, James Carville doesn’t get a vote.

UPDATE: Herman Cain was on Sean Hannity’s show tonight:

Cain Leads New Ohio Poll; Close to Romney in Nevada; Perry Fading Away

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The big headline today is the Ohio poll by Quinnipiac:

Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain has jumped to the front of the line among GOP presidential contenders with 28 percent support among Ohio Republicans. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is second with 23 percent, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry is almost at the bottom of the pile with 4 percent.

The poll was conducted Oct. 17-23 — partly before the Oct. 18 Vegas debate, partly after — and the complete numbers are:

Herman Cain ……………….. 28%
Mitt Romney ……………….. 23%
Ron Paul ……………………… 8%
Newt Gingrich ……………… 7%
Rick Perry …………………… 4%
Michele Bachmann ………. 4%
Jon Huntsman …………….. 2%
Rick Santorum …………….. 1%

Of course, that’s kind of irrelevant, because Ohio won’t have its primary until June, but there’s also a new Nevada poll by Public Policy Polling:

Mitt Romney ……………….. 29%
Herman Cain ……………….. 28%
Newt Gingrich ……………… 15%
Ron Paul ……………………… 7%
Rick Perry …………………… 6%
Michele Bachmann ………. 3%
Jon Huntsman …………….. 2%
Rick Santorum …………….. 2%

There’s just no escaping the point: Perry has become a second-tier candidate. Although his RCP national average is still 11.9%, Perry has been in single digits in two recent national polls — Rasmussen and CBS/NYT — and the latter was taken entirely after the Vegas debate. Which is why you’re starting to see headlines like this:

Can Rick Perry save his campaign?
— CBS News

You can do a lot with $15 million, I suppose. Like this Iowa ad:

Maybe he should try puffing a cigarette in his ads.


Cain Debuts Radio Ad, Picks Florida Team

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Sunshine State Sarah picked up this news from the St. Petersburg Times:

Look for an announcement soon about some top-tier political talent joining Herman Cain’s Florida campaign team.
Statewide chairs: Former St. Petersburg Mayor (and Mitt Romney supporter) Rick Baker; former State Sen. (and expected Rick Perry supporter) Carey Baker; former Jeb Bush chief Kathleen Shanahan; state Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood.
Tampa-based media consultant Adam Goodman is a senior strategist and media adviser and Arlene DiBenigno, a veteran of Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist, and Rick Scott campaigns, is another senior strategist.
Deborah Cox-Roush, former state GOP vice chairwoman and current Hillsborough County Republican chairwoman, is director of county chairs.

Sarah also has this audio of Cain’s new radio ad:

999MeansJobs.com

Herman Cain Builds Lead Over Romney, Rick Perry 5th in New CBS/NYT Poll

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The big news? This poll was taken Oct. 19-24, entirely after last week’s Vegas debate (Perry’s best performance to date) and covers the period during which the abortion controversy was supposedly (if you believe Karl Rove) destroying the viability of the Cain campaign:

Herman Cain ………………. 25%
Mitt Romney ………………. 21%
Newt Gingrich …………….. 10%
Ron Paul ……………………… 8%
Rich Perry ……………………. 6%
Michele Bachmann ………. 2%
Rick Santorum ……………… 1%
Jon Hunstman ……………… 1%

Earlier today, I heard Megyn Kelly discuss this poll on Fox and she felt obliged to point out that Cain and Romney are actually in a statistical tie because of the 4% margin of error. Right: And Rick Perry is in a statistical tie with Michele Bachmann, with Jon Huntsman close behind.

Perry’s effort to revive his campaign has already encountered difficulties. Three Republican governors — Terry Brandstad of Iowa, Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Haley Barbour of Mississippi — are criticizing Rick Perry for playing footsie with Birthers.

It’s a good day to be the Future Ambassador to Vanuatu.

Cain Seeks to Satisfy Foreign Policy Snobs

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Alex Pappas and Jamie Weinstein of the Daily Caller report:

Almost every day, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is handed a one-page briefing from his chief foreign policy adviser on news from around the world.
It’s one of several things his campaign says the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO, who has never held elective office before, is now doing to bone up on foreign policy — especially as he faces a big test in November at a GOP debate on national security issues.
“He’s really getting up to speed a lot more so than people give him credit for,” J.D. Gordon, Cain’s foreign policy and national security adviser who prepares the briefings, said in an interview with The Daily Caller on Monday.

When Alex sent me the article this morning, I replied: “Good Lord! A one-page briefing? Just read the NY Times at breakfast!” The article continues:

“I have no idea what Mr. Cain’s views are other than being generally pro-Israel,” said Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who served as a deputy national security adviser for President George W. Bush.
“He needs to say a lot more to be a serious candidate for Commander in Chief,” Abrams said. “He has been far too casual about this subject and does not seem to be taking seriously his need to explain his views.”

This is what I’ve previously described as the Cult of Experts, “a widespread attitude within the foreign policy/national security elite that expertise is essential in all such matters.” Expertise being the foreign policy specialist’s stock in trade, he esteems others insofar as they are themselves experts, or else demonstrate a seemly deference to such expertise.

But how’s that workin’ for ya? It was experts like Ken Adelman who assured us Iraq would be a “cakewalk.” And as I’ve pointed out, John McCain brought a lifetime of national-security policy expertise to his 2008 campaign, and what good did it do him, politically?

Nevertheless, the thing is what it is, and Cain must therefore spend time acquiring sufficient awareness of these issues in order not to look foolish during the Nov. 15 CNN debate at sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and AEI. Let’s hope Cain’s briefings include the latest from Vanuatu, “Linchpin of the South Pacific.”