Praising Cain
Just had lunch at Stanford business school with a senior professor, and, rather to my surprise, we found ourselves discussing Herman Cain.
(I happen to know, btw, that the professor is a regular reader of Ricochet. If he sends me an email giving me permission to use his name, I'll update this post.)
To my surprise? Well, yes. Since Mitt Romney is a product of Harvard Business School, I simply assumed that Romney would be this professor's candidate. Wrong. My friend hasn't entirely made up his mind, but he finds Herman Cain very, very impressive. Cain's 9-9-9 plan, my friend, an economist, insisted, is entirely non-crazy. He might want to adjust this or that aspect of 9-9-9, he explained, but the Cain plan represents an entirely reasonable starting point for discussing a radical--and overdue--reform of our tax system.
And as for Cain's business experience? To quote the professor (at least as best I can from memory):
"Cain took a company in the food industry [Godfather's Pizza] and turned it around. Margins in that industry are tiny. You've got to manage your suppliers, prevent too much turnover among your staff, and stay ahead of your customers' changing tastes. Cain did all that--and he did it, again, in a really tough industry. That's a serious achievement."
Folks, I just don't know. The more I consider the argument that Herman Cain is somehow unelectable, the less persuasive it seems.
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Comments :
Oct '10
Re: Praising Cain
Can this roll keep moving? Perception is more than 50% of political success. Herman Cain, as us unrealists have insisted, is the real thing. There might be a better candidate our there, but his name isn't Romney.
Dec '10
Re: Praising Cain
If Perry won't run as Perry, then I'll gladly hop on the Cain Train. ABM.
Jun '10
Re: Praising Cain
He has everything but campaign money. That's like having everything you need to win the Kentucky Derby except a horse.
Aug '10
Re: Praising Cain
I've been a Romney supporter from the beginning of this election cycle, but only one candidate has continually challenged my support. That candidate is Herman Cain. He's candid when Romney is waffley. He's smart and has a keen marketing sense, understanding that marketing is a part of campaigning. And his gaffes have all been because what you see is what you get with him.
He hasn't brought me over into his true believer camp yet, but I could easily vote for him. And if I were to vote for him, I wouldn't currently be considering it a "lesser of two evils." He seems like a good man who's running for office because he cares about the country. In other words, an admirable man.
Sep '10
Re: Praising Cain
Sure, why not? If the Presidency's going repub in 2012, I want to be entertained; I want the economy to boom (the US is Canada's biggest trading partner) and I don't want to have to worry that Bill Ayers has a smile on his face. And anyone who tells Iran's bearded bellhop to "make my day" is worth a closer look.
He needs a new nickname and theme song, though. The Godfather of Soul has a nice ring to it. Preach it brotha.
Mar '11
Re: Praising Cain
What is electability? I believe the best way to become electable is to have a vision and to effectively articulate that vision. As Cain improves on the later his electability will increase as well as his campaign coffers.
Sep '10
Re: Praising Cain
God bless your open mind, sir.
May '10
Re: Praising Cain
I'd have agreed with this before delving into Cain's old columns and listening to his talk radio appearances. I've just written about how he spent the months prior to the financial crisis dismissively mocking everyone who suggested that maybe the economy was in bad shape.
What conservatives will like even less is what he wrote about the bailouts. One example: "Earth to taxpayers! Owning stocks in banks is not nationalization of the banking industry. It's trying to solve a problem. The unprecedented financial crisis has caused the Treasury of the United States to take unprecedented measures to help solve the problem of frozen credit and cash flow for U.S. businesses. Most of us had dreams of what we wanted to be when we grew up as children. Some of us wanted to grow up and become a fireman, a policeman, a dancer, a chef or any number of other professions. But some of us wanted to own a bank because that's where the money is! Wake up people! Owning a part of the major banks in America is not a bad thing. We could make a profit while solving a problem."
Apr '11
Re: Praising Cain
Maybe if people get to know him better Cain is electable, but I think he has a large gap to fill. He can't point to prior experience in office to paper over his relative small national stature. He really has to sell himself and in a manner that is appealing to people outside of the Republican party.
He also has to be able to avoid being effectively caricatured by democrats and their media stooges, which means he has to be able to bypass them and connect directly to the american people (that is not an easy thing to do). I don't know if he can do that. If he can then he has a good fighting chance. Romney has been out there so long that his caricature and persona in the public mind are set barring some unforeseen revelation. All he has to do is tear down Obama. Cain has to build himself up and tear down Obama as well.
Dec '10
Re: Praising Cain
Well, if the Kentucky Derby is the analogy, then it's more like he needs a saddle.
Re: Praising Cain
I'd want to know more about his thinking, Conor--if you write a piece for the Atlantic, let us know--but this quotation doesn't strike me as all that bad. Not in itself, anyway. Milton Friedman himself would have supported drastic measures to keep the banking system from collapsing.
But we shall see....
Dec '10
Re: Praising Cain
I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but I have yet to be persuaded of Mitt Romney's electability. One piece of contrary evidence is that he ran in 2008 and lost -- in a field of highly "electable" candidates like John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.
Another piece of contrary evidence is that, despite his electability and his solid campaigning, he doesn't seem to be going anywhere in terms of building support. His rivals tend to rise and fall, and Mitt just seems to stay flat at 25 percent support or so.
I understand that there are many fine-sounding reasons why Mitt SHOULD be electable. I just don't see him translating them into, you know, actual voting intentions.
Jun '10
Re: Praising Cain
Cain's biggest problem will be getting nominated not getting elected.
As an aside, I'd love to hear the main stream media kvetching that Cain is an inauthentic "negro" while talking up Obama's black authenticity. Pity one of them is only half-black.
Mar '11
Re: Praising Cain
I am almost at the point of taking Jennifer Rubin off my rss reader because of her opposition to Mr Cain - there seems to be a disconnect between the republican elite pundits and the polls.
Anyway, some impressive people are liking the 999 plan, so I think the key to Mr Cain's success is for him to explain it in more detail - perhaps you can get him on Uncommon Knowledge, Peter?
May '10
Re: Praising Cain
Peter,
You may be right. That quote isn't a deal-breaker for me personally, but it seems to me that a guy relying on the Tea Party vote to win the nomination is going to have a tough time having supported the bailouts.
But maybe I am misreading those voters.
One other thing worth knowing -- just as National Review and Rush Limbaugh endorsed Mitt Romney in 2008, so did... Herman Cain. If he begins to seriously threaten Romney's path to the nomination, expect to see official Romney commercials that cite his February 2008 column titled "Why I Support Mitt Romney: Leadership Substance."
The dirtier, anonymous attacks will be pegged to his less controversial than the title suggests column "A Letter from a Slave to an Illegal Alien," which wouldn't matter in an ideal world.
One more fun fact. Herman Cain once endorsed someone for president in 2016. Can anyone guess who it is without Googling?
Feb '11
Re: Praising Cain
Conor Friedersdorf: Peter,
One other thing worth knowing -- just as National Review and Rush Limbaugh endorsed Mitt Romney in 2008, so did... Herman Cain. If he begins to seriously threaten Romney's path to the nomination, expect to see official Romney commercials that cite his February 2008 column titled "Why I Support Mitt Romney: Leadership Substance."
Having just read the column it didn't strike me as a deal breaker, rather as Cain laying out his choice between two alternatives as they stood in 2008. His arguments about Romney would in fact apply to Cain himself, and while I didn't support either Romney or McCain in the '08 primary, I understood those who sided with Romney, even though I thought they were wrong then and are so today.
I was initially interested in Cain until his earlier gaffes and walked away waiting for the field to develop. As it has developed Cain has earned my attention. What I would really like besides more information from Mr. Cain himself on various still nebulous policy points (foreign comes to mind), is a very rational pro/con discussion of his 999 plan by people more adept at economics than a dead composer.
Dec '10
Re: Praising Cain
Mitt Romney was the right man for February 2008... when he was the only viable alternative to John McCain, Thompson and Giuliani having cratered.
It isn't February 2008 anymore. McCain isn't running.
And Cain is offering himself as a better alternative to Romney. That isn't inconsistent with endorsing Romney three and a half years ago.
Dec '10
Re: Praising Cain
St. Salieri
Having just read the column it didn't strike me as a deal breaker, rather as Cain laying out his choice between two alternatives as they stood in 2008. His arguments about Romney would in fact apply to Cain himself, and while I didn't support either Romney or McCain in the '08 primary, I understood those who sided with Romney, even though I thought they were wrong then and are so today.
I was initially interested in Cain until his earlier gaffes and walked away waiting for the field to develop. As it has developed Cain has earned my attention. What I would really like besides more information from Mr. Cain himself on various still nebulous policy points (foreign comes to mind), is a very rational pro/con discussion of his 999 plan by people more adept at economics than a dead composer.
Maybe Paul Ryan and Art Laffer will amplify on their comments praising 9-9-9.
May '10
Re: Praising Cain
Yeah, I agree there is no inconsistency. I'm just laying out what I think will happen, not what should happen. (Personally, I think Mitch Daniels or Gary Johnson is what should happen, but not much chance of that!)
Re: Praising Cain
First off, Herman Cain is the Reaganesque candidate in the race: a committed conservative putting forth bold proposals to meet the current existential challenge, blunt and combative when called for, yet exuding good humor and optimism.
Second, Cain's qualifications--corporate turnaround specialist and Federal Reserve bank chairman turned communicator--seem tailor-made for the current crisis.
Third, the fact that Cain happens to be black is another positive. As Deroy Murdock points out over at NRO today, given his deep roots in the African-American experience, Cain has an excellent shot at winning over minority voters disillusioned with the Hope and Change they've latterly received but otherwise unwilling to fire the first black president.
And just imagine the presidential debates: President Obama, without the race card to play, being schooled in economics by a self-made American success story.