Is it time to start taking Herman Cain seriously? Once buried among the fringe candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, the canny Atlanta businessman has taken full advantage of Rick Perry’s collapse, surging past the Texas governor to catch — and even, in some polls, surpass — front-runner Mitt Romney.
Cain’s strengths? His simple “9-9-9” economic platform (a 9 percent business tax, income tax and national sales tax), an affability that coats an unmistakable inner strength and a sunny disposition that projects self-confidence without arrogance.
Plus, in a year when voters are heartily sick of professional politicians, he’s an outsider with both a record of accomplishment in business and a compelling personal story. This includes his upbringing in the segregated South, his service as a Navy systems analyst, a successful term as the head of Godfather’s Pizza and a stint as Federal Reserve Bank chief in Kansas City. He’s even a Baptist preacher.
There’s not a whiff of the grievance industry about Cain, a throwback to the up-by-your-bootstraps philosophy of Booker T. Washington. His parents were working class (chauffeur, maid) and he graduated from historically black Morehouse College in Atlanta — the first member of his family to get a college degree. He’s solidly tied to the African-American experience, yet he’s not running as a “black candidate,” but as an American.
True, Cain had plenty of early stumbles — most famously, his plain cluelessness when asked about the Palestinians’ “right of return” to Israel. He’s going to have to significantly raise his game to be taken seriously.
He’s also had to walk back his statement that he’d require loyalty oaths for any prospective Muslim members of his Cabinet, and foolishly waded into the faux controversy over the infamous rock with the racial slur on land Rick Perry leases for hunting.
But Cain is expected to shine in tomorrow’s night debate at Dartmouth, where the only topic is the economy.
With Chris Christie and Sarah Palin out, the field is set. The other “smaller fry” have gone nowhere — Michele Bachmann imploded; Jon Huntsman has all the charisma of a funeral director. Rick Santorum rouses social conservatives — but those are side issues this time ’round. Newt Gingrich can’t escape his Titanic boatload of erratic personal baggage, while lunatic-fringe favorite Ron Paul is, well, Ron Paul.
Which leaves Cain ideally positioned to be the anybody-but-Romney guy.
Romney is as slick as ever, bloodying the inexperienced Perry in the debates, but he still projects the air of a nervous used-car salesman. Still, Romney hasn’t managed to close the deal with the GOP electorate. Polls put his support at around 25 percent.
In the battles between Romney and Perry, Cain’s been content to hang back as the two governors whale away at each other over such hot buttons as illegal immigration, Social Security and health care. But he’s used his openings to pound home his 9-9-9 plan (by contrast, Romney’s economic plan runs to 160 pages, including a 10-point laundry list of what he’d do on Day 1) while projecting a calm, can-do attitude that contrasts sharply not only with his GOP rivals but also with President Obama.
It’s still unlikely Cain will get the nomination. Romney’s had nothing to do except run for president since losing the GOP nod to John McCain four years ago, and has a formidable campaign machine in place. By contrast, Cain is a gifted amateur, taking advantage of his sudden national prominence to speak his piece and hope for the best — perhaps a nod as Mitt’s veep.
Whatever happens, the other candidates could learn much from him. Romney’s bloodless technocracy and perfect hair set few hearts aflutter; with another recession looming and protesters in the streets, the country needs a leader, not a corporate manager. Too-clever-by-half, Mitt could help himself if he adopted Cain’s simple forcefulness.
Perry has the opposite problem; he needs to shed his defensiveness over his Texas record and project Cain’s cool confidence. This is a campaign, not a courtroom; scoring debating points won’t get us out of this mess.
With the nation rudderless and reeling, the GOP candidate must answer the incumbent’s punitive, eat-the-rich nostrums with a forceful and unapologetic view of America — and clear ideas on how to get the nation moving.
If Cain can help produce a nominee who’ll make that case, his candidacy will have been invaluable to his party and his nation.