“We’re having a kind of Andy Warhol primary where everyone is leader for 15 minutes. And it’s Cain’s turn today. But it’s not clear that Cain has staying power. He’s not running for president; he’s sort of strolling for president without an infrastructure. It’s pretty and cute and nice, but whether that works, we can be doubtful.” — George F. Will, speaking on ABC’s This Week
Man needs to get off his book tour and put feet on the ground in early primary states. Clearly Cain never intended to break through into the top tier otherwise he wouldn't have scheduled his tour in the middle of a presidential campaign (either that, or he has Fred Thompson disease). Unless there are some pretty serious changed in how that campaign works, this "run" should be regarded as nothing more than a novelty that somehow got taken seriously.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseUh, RJG? The Book IS a campaign tour. Read it and see.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseA campaign tour in irrelevant primary states? I don't think so.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe condescension towards this man is ridiculous.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat "they" don't get, and by "they" I mean the liberal media and the Republican establishment, is that a great deal of Mr Cain's appeal is that he is indeed "strolling" and not "running". The other candidates seem willing to do anything to get the nomination, be it change core beliefs or attack the others "running". Cain is content to do his own thing and present his solutions to our problems while maintaining his happy warrior persona. It seems weird to think this about someone seeking the Presidency, but he's the only one in the race where it doesn't seem to be "all about him".
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse> this "run" should be regarded as nothing more than a novelty that somehow got taken seriously.
Like Obama's run?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse>>He’s not running for president; he’s sort of strolling for president...
He's ~sprinting~ compared to the new pace introduced last time by Fred Thompson.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFunny, he is polling better than Romney, who has been running full speed for 5 years...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseEveryone gets to be in the lead for 15 minutes because we're willing to audition anyone - even the first hundred names in the Boston phone book - if it means we get to vote for someone (anyone? Please?!?) other than Romney.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI count SIX Cain articles by ONE NRO author, Mr. Costa. Almost all articles certainly negative of Cain and his campaign.
So count me a little suspicious at 'NRO Staff' being given the authorship of this critical Cain entry.
Maybe there is a half-dozen limit per day?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"We"? Is George Will royalty now?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI think Will, Rove, and the rest of the commentariat see in Cain their eventual disintermediation.
Hence the snark.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, yes, we know -- George Will is for Obama, er, Romney.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Strolling"?
Let's see, polls would seem to indicate Cain is first in Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia. I would have to imagine he's doing pretty well in Nevada also.
He is second in New Hampshire.
Oh, he is first in more than a couple of national polls as well.
9-9-9, regardless of what you think about it, has people talking about Herman Cain from one end of the MSM to the other.
This "book tour" of his that so many of our illustrious pundits poo-poo is resulting in him meeting thousands of of voters and getting his name out to a large percentage of the electorate which still know little about him. The thing to note of course is that once people do find out about him they love him.
He has no debt and since the Florida strawpoll he's been bringing in about $1 million/week.
The grassroots is on fire for him, and while our establishment GOP friends may not want to hear it, the grassroots wants absolutely NOTHING to do with Romney.
Bachman is finished. Santorum is finished. Huntsman is finished. Gingrich is alive, but just barely. Ron Paul has a dedicated following but it is hard to see him gaining the non-libertarian GOP to move to him en masse. Perry, while he has a ton of money, has people scratching their heads about some of the things he has said and his general cluelessness in the debates.
And Herman Cain is just strolling along?
Indeed.
And he's loving every minute of it.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe latest batch of early primary polls (from Insider Advantage) has Cain first in IA and SC and second in NH and FL. External Link
So yeah, Cain is credible right now. Just how credible he will be when people start really thinking about 9-9-9 is another question.
I've noticed an interesting change in the comments around here. Now folks seem to say that Cain doesn't really mean it about the national sales tax, or it will never really go through, or let's just all forget about it, or it's just a conversation-starter on some other kind of tax reform.
Yeah, sure. That national sales tax IS Herman Cain. Let's see how he handles it in the months before the first primaries.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI am not Mitt's biggest fan and I like Herman Cain. But the man needs to do some serious work in the area of foreign policy and national security. It's a dangerous world, we can't completely isolate ourselves from it, and Cain doesn't know squat the subject and doesn't seem interested in learning. That's a major problem.
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