Herman Cain has been thinking about running for president for 15 years. In my piece on the home page today, I look at how he nearly ran in 2000:
So serious was Cain about a possible bid that, as the Des Moines Registerreported, he visited Iowa in April of 1999 “to tell top state Republicans he is considering a bid for president in 2000.” He said he was thinking about running because “there isn’t the leadership to solve the [nation’s] problems” and he was concerned that “the message of the Republican Party is not focused enough.” He also traveled to New Hampshire and even formed an exploratory committee, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
In mid-May, Cain decided he would not run, for reasons that may surprise those skeptical about the amount of organization behind his current campaign. “The two biggest things I had not anticipated was how long it takes to build an organization and how long it takes to raise the money,” Cain told the Omaha World-Herald. Running for president is “not practical.” Instead, Cain served as the national co-chairman for Steve Forbes’s 2000 presidential run.
Cain also considered seriously running for Senate years before he did run in 2004. Full piece here.