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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The Horserace for October 6, 2011

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  October 6th, 2011 at 12:00 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Earlier this week, I focused on what I personally don’t like about each of the candidates.

Today, with the race rapidly consolidating into a three man race, it is time to have a very frank conversation about each of the candidate’s objective problems. The calendar is collapsing in on them. The fundraising period before the start of the actual race is shrinking. There is limited time, limited talent, and limited treasure left on the road to the White House.

With Herman Cain battling it out for second place, trying to push to the lead, Perry has some thinking to do, Romney some planning, and Herman Cain is in for the biggest public examination of his life. The rest of the field is struggling to stay relevant, but coming up from behind Newt Gingrich has some momentum.

We’ll get into it all in this week’s horserace.

Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann’s biggest problem right now is relevance. Herman Cain is in payback mode, sucking the oxygen and money out of her race in the same way she did to him a few months ago. She collapsed in the spotlight, got hit with an unflattering media narrative, and then played right into it with the HPV “mental retardation” issue.

She’ll have a few more debates to sort things out, but her fundraising does not seem to be spectacular and she is going to have a harder and harder time staying relevant as Herman Cain steals more and more spotlight.

Herman Cain

Herman Cain is resurgent. Back on a path to victory, the media is laying a mine field for him he is going to have to carefully navigate. This is the moment where his lack of campaign experience could be a singular anchor or a great sail depending on how he handles himself. And if past performance is the best indicator of future success, his record is mixed.

Cain’s first problem is also his strength right now — 999.

He is going to have to answer serious questions now, as a serious candidate, on a plan a lot of people do not take seriously. The biggest question is also the hardest. Let me ask it to you all.

Given the Republican Party has a unparalleled history of being unable or unwilling to truly scale back the size and scope of the federal government and its creeping socialism, do we really want the Republican Party to be the party to introduce a national sales tax or VAT tax without first repealing the income tax?

Herman’s plan posits there would be a 9% income tax, a 9% corporate tax, and a 9% national sales tax that sounds like it’ll be structured as a VAT. The campaign says that the American people will keep the pressure on Congress to avoid raising any of those taxes and likewise to repeal the 16th Amendment on the way to enacting the Fair Tax.

But do you really believe that? When the Democrats took back control of the White House and Congress they defied the vast majority of Americans who opposed Obamacare and passed it anyway. And if Herman Cain wins, history shows us that the party controlling the White House typically loses seats in the next off year election, which means the GOP could scale back control of Congress in 2014 or potentially lose it. The odds of repealing the income tax, which would require a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress and three quarters of the states, will be difficult if not impossible.

Were Cain to get 999 enacted and then fail to get rid of the 16th Amendment, he and the GOP would have placed a brand new tax burden on the American people for the first time since the early 1900′s. Does the GOP want to be the party of new forms of federal taxation — a taxation that would realistically have to see the IRS expand, not contract, to enforce collections?

And that’s just one problem.

He’s going to also have to deal with his health. A lot of reporters in Washington on both sides of the aisle were friends of Tony Snow. And they remember he too was cured of colon cancer only to have it come back fatally. Herman is going to have to withstand the scrutiny of a press corp that saw a White House press secretary die of that which Herman fought off from stage 4 once.

Then there is a silly, silly story. A Daily Beast writer, in passing reference, noted Herman was recently at the Four Seasons in Atlanta drinking a morning glass of white wine. It was so irrelevant to the rest of the story the author never brought it up again. But it sure has raised eyebrows with reporters. Who drinks white wine in the morning?

Additionally, Herman is going to have to withstanding the scrutiny of his campaign apparatus. He has lost a number of staffers in recent weeks, including his highly respected communications director and her deputy. Does he have what it takes to wage a caucus ground game in Iowa and then pivot to primaries?

Lastly, Herman must make a strategic determination — does he now focus his attacks on Mitt Romney or does he fight Rick Perry. Fighting Rick Perry secures his second place spot. But second place does not win. Herman, however, is friends with Mitt Romney and might not want to go after his friend. If he doesn’t, he risks being seen by conservatives as a spoiler for Romney instead of an alternative to Romney.

This is what happens when a rise is so rapid the eyes of the Media turn and, like the Eye of Sauron, begin a singular, burning fixation on one candidate.

Newt Gingrich

Gingrich has some momentum in the polls. His debating performances are paying off. But, and it is repetitive, Gingrich’s problems have never been debates. They’ve been everything else. He is going to have to find the money and the ground game to win in the early states where he still is not polling well. Money is key for Gingrich right now and until his fundraising numbers start trickling out, there is no evidence he has found a path to victory.

Jon Huntsman

Jon Huntsman has a funny problem. He is disliked by conservatives and loved by the media. It creates a feedback loop he cannot break out of. And he may be going up in New Hampshire polling, but that seems to be the only place. That hurts Romney more than it helps Jon Huntsman. Huntsman’s biggest problem is Jon Huntsman (and John Weaver isn’t helping).

Ron Paul

Ron Paul’s biggest problem is his mouth. He may relish speaking painful truths to people — or things he sees as truth, whether or not you agree — but it hurts him because it rallies to him a lot of people who are best left at the fringes.

I am reminded of the two people who cheered him on at the CNN debate in Tampa, FL for wanting to let the hypothetical 26 year old die. The headline was “crowd cheers to let man die.” It was two people. They were Ron Paul supporters. They, and he with his unwillingness to tone down his hyperbole and bluntness, taint the rest of us.

He will not be the nominee.

Rick Perry

Rick Perry’s problem is not money. He raised more in 49 days than Mitt Romney did last quarter and has a ridiculously slow burn rate. That is good. But money can be a salve covering up festering wounds. And Perry has a few.

First, it is really apparent now even to those who originally dismissed it that Rick Perry really and truly did jump in to the race without a lot of pre-planning. His denials earlier in the year were real. And it shows.

He has yet to hire a healthcare policy expert and that issue is going to come to the forefront soon.

His key staff is so Texas heavy, they need to remember that past slights and insults from the press or others were about a Texas campaign, not a national campaign. Old enemies may be useful allies, or at least neutral on a national stage.

Likewise, they are incredibly slow to respond. Take the immigration issue. Perry has a reasonable argument. But no one knows it because the campaign has been so slow to get it out there. The economic debate will be October 11th and Perry still does not have an economic plan. Then there is the rock story — a story in which the Perry campaign could have tried to undermine the Washington Post’s credibility with its own interviews of the eye witnesses, even if orchestrated through a third party. They didn’t.

A lot of what the Perry camp seems to be going through is growing pains, but they need to grow more quickly. Additionally, they need to remember again that this is not a continuation of an old campaign. This is a new campaign on a whole new field. Many of the fights they won in Texas must be refought. They cannot assume that just because they won in Texas the facts will get out there or they will win the fight again.

Perry needs to kick the hiring and media pushback into a higher gear with a more national, less Texas, focus. If he can’t break out from the “regionalism” stigma, he can’t break into the hearts and minds of independents.

And I won’t even get into the need to improve his debate performances.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney’s problem is the easiest to write about.

78% of the Republican electorate wants someone other than him. Certainly you could make that argument about any of the other candidates, and right now the anti-X number would be higher. But it is rather undisputed that this GOP primary is about Mitt Romney vs. Not Mitt Romney. The other candidates are only alternatives to each other in the sense that they all want to be the person to take on Mitt Romney, not the person to take on Cain, Perry, Gingrich, or the rest. And this dynamic existed even when Mitt Romney fell into second place behind Perry, before creeping back up to first place in the polling.

The race has been and remains all about finding an alternative to Romney.

Screen Shot 2011 10 06 at 12 03 47 PM

With Palin and Christie out, perhaps he can begin consolidating. But Perry’s money and Cain’s voice means he will have a hard time doing it now. Perry’s money buys Perry time. Cain’s voice buys Cain favorable media attention from right-wing opinion leaders.

Romney is deploying the McCain strategy successfully, but we should remember the big issue in 2008 was the continuation of the War on Terror — which is why Giuliani and McCain were the two top candidates in late 2007. Conservatives were willing to go with Giuliani because of national security issues over John McCain who they did not like. When Rudy imploded, it left McCain and everyone else.

This time, the field is about jobs and the economy. We’ve got two businessmen in Romney and Cain who both have a private sector record. And we have Rick Perry who steered Texas against the odds in the Obama economy to create jobs. That makes it more difficult for consolidation.

Also, the Romney team needs to be worried about the latest Barna Group Survey, which has not received the attention it should receive. Evangelicals do not like Mitt Romney at all. They will be a huge factor in Iowa and South Carolina. If Cain or Perry collapse and consolidation of the anti-Romney vote happens, Romney is in huge trouble.

In fact, it is telling that the evangelic vote, which will be the largest block in the GOP primary, does not like Romney and secularists, who will be an influential block of independents in the general election, also do not like Romney.

The dislike among evangelicals has nothing to do with Mitt Romney’s religion. It has everything to do with his wife giving money to Planned Parenthood and Romney proudly declaring himself pro-choice and seemingly hostile to the Reagan-Bush era until he decided he wanted to be the GOP Presidential nominee.

Evangelicals do not trust Mitt Romney because of his ongoing changing on fundamental social issues.

Romney’s other problem is his 57 point economic plan. Cain can sum his up with 999. Even Huntsman has a catchy way of talking about his. Romney? “I have 57 ideas, let me explain them to you in the one minute I have on stage.” He needs some pizazz to sell it and he needs with withstand the coming deeper exam on the plan.

Rick Santorum

Santorum’s biggest problem is money. He doesn’t have a lot, is overshadowed by better candidates, and he comes across as too many. Likewise he cannot win his home state of Pennsylvania in the primary — a key swing state.

Santorum will not be the nominee.

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  • Change Jar Conservative

    I remember Elizabeth Dole (and more recently Newt) taking vacations in the middle of the presidential campaign and thinking, “huh?”

    A book tour isn’t exactly vacation, but it raises the question of “Is Cain doing this to just sell books?”

    That in addition to 999 make me a little bit concerned.

  • acat

    If Perry puts out another “heartless” gaffe, or Cain says something Ron Paul-esque on foreign policy, the other wins it.

    Mew

  • Aaron Gardner

    I’d have given him a pass if it had been a bloody mary.

    ;)

  • Christian_Reppie

    Scares the heck out of me..I can see the democrats and RINOs loving that VAT and already finding a way to spend it.

  • http://dezignworx-ae.com tsquare

    That this is the type of thoughtful analysis that the MSM doesn’t even try to provide, and in fairness, not just for the GOP but they don’t do it for the Democrats either (like in 2004).

    Now we can all, I’m sure, quibble with Erick here and there, but we need more of this type of coverage in politics.

  • trur

    that Cain is an alcoholic. Cain had Stage 4 Colon Cancer. So if he wants to eat, drink and be merry more power to Mr. Cain. What is of concern are his stated positions not the fact that he once had a glass of white wine before noon.

  • Change Jar Conservative

    I’ve been thinking about the fact that there are definitely priorities that we will have to choose from since we don’t have a flawless conservative running.

    So here’s my criteria for the GOP nomination at this point in time:

    1) Someone who can win.
    2) Someone with an actual economic plan that I like.

    Screen 1 eliminates
    a) Bachmann,
    b) Paul,
    c) Santorum,
    d) Roemer.
    e) In one sense, I think it might eliminate Cain. While I would vote for him, I’m just not sure that most of America would go for a guy with very little government experience. It also bothers me that Cain is off hawking books. Is he Fred Thompson redone?

    I’ll leave Cain in for now.

    f) Some would argue that it leaves out Johnson given his low poll standings and his stand on marijuana, but I’ll leave him in for now.

    That leaves: Romney, Johnson, Huntsman, Cain, and Perry.

    Screen 2 eliminates

    a) Perry (no actual plan … four principles isn’t a plan).
    b) For me, it also eliminates Cain. 999 has some intriguing parts to it, but I agree that it’s not a great way to go (Repulicans introducing Sales Tax).

    Also, I’d prefer a straight sales tax to a VAT. Straight sales tax makes everyone pay for government and makes foreign goods rise in price against US goods (assuming that the sales tax is offset by lower corporate tax burdens). A VAT seems like it would increase the cost of American goods vs foreign goods.

    c) Johnson likewise has some very good, but vague principles and no details.

    That leaves Romney, Huntsman, and Gingrich with Perry and Johnson having an option to get back in if they come up with something.

    So I’m back to

    Gingrich as my #1,
    Huntsman as my #2,
    and Romney as my #3.

  • http://www.last.fm/user/SoonerCaniac soonercaniac

    Having never written a book, is the book tour a contractual obligation with the publisher that he has to fulfill or face legal/financial consequences? Cain himself has said when asked about this that the book tour was planned long before his recent rise in the polls and he claims that while he planned on a rise to top-tier status (you have to believe this or why bother?), that it was expected to be gradual and take longer than it has (hopefully not much longer with the first primaries in 2-3 months!). If this is true, then the book/book tour was supposed to help alleviate his low name recognition and perhaps simply came out too late.

    Call me naive, but if you hear his speeches, have listened to him on the radio, and you have followed him over the years as I have, one thing I cannot call Herman Cain is insincere or undedicated or only out for the money. In my opinion, the man deserves far more credit than that.

    Here, I think perhaps he underestimated the power of his own message and did not predict the rise he has sustained over the past couple of weeks. An error? Sure. A big one? We’ll see. Perhaps the book tour would have been better executed if done over the summer. However, who knows than was going on in the meetings between Cain and his publisher; perhaps, for example, the publisher wanted a fall release date to capitalize on sales.

    My point is that it’s easy to say that the timing was bad and mistakes were made, but “doing this just to sell books” is just something I cannot comprehend given my opinion of Cain’s character and integrity.

    For what it’s worth!

    Regards,
    SC

  • trur

    will be 29-29-29 in no time.

  • reggie182

    After three dismal debate performances it would seem that Rick Perry would immediately want to go on news programs to reassure voters that he can answer tough questions about domestic and foreign policy.

    So why hasn’t he?

    After making a cheap racial comment (twice) about not wanting to penalize students for their last name, he then calls people who oppose the polce “heartless”.

    Why did he wait over a week to make a (rather half-hearted) apology?

  • Russ Martin

    I’m all for broadening the tax base, since about half of the working population doesn’t pay any federal income tax. But Cain’s 999 plan will increase lower income Americans by 9%, via the sales/VAT tax. No way that gets passed. Additionally, I hate the idea of creating another avenue for Washington to increase everyone’s taxes, via a national sales tax. It is a terrible precedent.

    And as much as I like the guy, Cain has a problem with his mouth. He is quick to form an opinion and voice it, without having all the facts. He then is forced to walk back those statements. He did it when queried about the Palestinian right of return as well as when asked about the Perry/Hunting Lease/Rock issue, and then again when asked if he would support Perry in the general. These types of statement will hurt him as he receives more media attention.

    As for Perry, he must do 3 things, and do them quickly: 1) stop attacking his fellow nominees and start attacking Obama. 2) formulate specific plans about job creation and the economy and be able to articulate them, as they relate to the entire country, as opposed to just Texas. 3) Stay on message – jobs and the economy.

  • tommyc

    One of my pet peeves is pointing out problems without solutions which is why I do like Herman Cain (he doesn’t do that). When addressing Erick’s question “Do the republicans want to be the party to introduce a VAT?” I think it is prudent to also ask “What’s the alternative?”

    Eric makes a good point that the Democratics will eventually have power again and they could mess with 999. So what! Look at the current tax code which is a 11000 page catalog of political favors to special interests on both parties, Fear of what happens in the future is a weak argument to not fix the problems of to day. One reason we never hear specific bold plans from politicians is because they ALL will have weaknesses. There is no PERFECT tax code. 999 would make the united states extremely competitive considering VAT taxes are deductible when exporting and corporate income taxes are not. Art Laffer said on fox Reagan would have loved to be able to flatten the tax code with something like 999. Additionally the current tax code is far easier for democrates to hide tax raises in then 999 would ever be.

    The question conservatives should be asking if we have an opportunity elect a leader that can rally public support to throw out the current PROGRESSIVE tax code and replace it with a hybrid FLAT/FAIR tax are really willing to throw that chance away.

  • damianvincent

    I’m for Perry, all or nothing for me. I don’t like Romney, I think he is two faced and would turn his back on Conservative principles the first sign of polling trouble. No more status quo Republicans we all know the system is broke, and Romney proved with his SS attacks he is a status quo politician. With Perry I know he’s a guy who will come in, cut spending, balance out the budget, and turn this ship around, that’s what he’s done for the past decade, I don’t need a smooth speech to understand that fact, this isn’t American Idol, it’s the Presidency of the United States, and the best qualified candidate should win.
    Perry is number one in job creation, creating over a million jobs in Texas alone. Perry accomplished this with Conservative principles, cutting taxes, reducing regulations, and passing tort reform. Perry’s proven he has what it takes to cut spending, having balanced 6 budgets in a row. Unlike the US Texas had it’s credit rating upgraded.
    Pretty much every bad thing Obama’s done to the economy, Perry’s had the opposite result. Perry’s created over a million jobs, while Obama lost several million. Obama got our credit rating downgraded, Perry got Texas credit rating upgraded. If Perry is the nominee, Obama can’t say it’s Republican policies that got us here, that he’s fixing the Republican’s mess, that Republicans don’t know how to fix the economy. Perry’s record alone will void that. We need to win on the economy, that’s going to be number one on every voters mind in that polling both, and on the economy we have two choices, Perry who was number one in job creation, or Romney who was 47th, third worst in the nation in job creation. A fact I can guarantee you’ll see in every Obama ad.

  • Aaron Gardner

    Look it up.

  • damianvincent

    999 has no real chance of passage at all. Lets be real, Congress would never lower corporate and income tax rates to 9%, if they did the deficit would explode if you didn’t cut spending by like 80%, which would never happen, they have ads of Ryan pushing grandma off a cliff for simply reforming Medicare, to cut 80% you’d have to shut it down. The 9% sales tax is likely to pass however, and it’s extremely regressive. You have to consider most states have a sales tax already, my state it’s almost 9% already, so adding 9% more to that would be a nearly 20% tax on every purchase I make. That’s an extremely regressive tax on the poor and middle class, at the same time Obama’s sure to run on Republican’s not standing up for the middle class and poor. I personally like Cain, and gave his plan consideration. It’s just too gimmicky, a pizza box economic plan that isn’t sitting to well with me, the more I think about it.

  • sadams

    famously said: If people are saying, “anyone but X”, put your money on X.

  • wennejunk

    What can you possibly eat at breakfast that goes well with a white?

  • wennejunk

    “I?m just not sure that most of America would go for a guy with very little government experience” – again.

    The One we have in office now shows that it actually does matter.

  • perry4prez

    …he doesn’t want to get drowned out by the Peewee Herman love-fest, the final episode of the Sarah Palin reality show and Steve Jobs?

  • the_invisible_hand

    I’m shocked that you would try and say 78% of Republicans don’t want Romney. You could do that with any candidate in the race. Look at their polling, then subtract that number from 100 and you have the percentange that don’t want that candidate. But things are not that simple. We can’t know who the second choice of people would be.

    Romney, unlike all other big names so far, has not made any significant mistakes. He hasn’t had a boom or bust. He’s just patiently waiting for the party to come to him as the viable alternative in a general election.

    Very smart moves that remind me of Nixon in 1968,

  • benko

    Does it really matter that he doesn’t have political experience?

  • sayoung80913

    my grandmother, who was Basque, used to drink a small glass of wine every morning- she said it was good for her digestion. Whether or not that had any merit is up for debate, however,in Europe, people drink a glass of wine with a majority of their meals. Indeed, my grandmother always had a jug of wine and a jug of water on the table at mealtime, and for us kids she’d pour a half a glass of wine and a half of glass of water. It was just the way she was raised and nobody thought anything of it-neither her nor my grandpa were alcoholics,just continuing on in the traditions they were brought up on.

  • wennejunk

    However, even though its not American Idol, way too many of the voters will act like it is.

    Perry just needs to sing a little better at the debates so the idol-watching public will keep him on the island (yeah, mixed metaphor).

  • Change Jar Conservative

    Erick’s argument is that we know Romney.

    It’s similar to saying people don’t want Obama. There isn’t anyone who hasn’t checked out Obama by this point in time.

    There MAY be people who haven’t checked out Perry or Cain, but pretty much everyone has checked out Romney.

  • sayoung80913

    FTR-yuck

  • wennejunk

    Sad for the country, that is. He can at least get his name on the books at the Captain of the Titanic.

  • reggie182

    Why wasn’t he on last week…

    or the week before?

    In fact when has he been on any of the Sunday morning news programs? I’m not saying he never has, it’s just I can’t remember it.

  • benko

    you mean?

  • tyman

    I’d say that Perry has great timing considering that he announced on the same day as the Iowa straw poll and sucked a lot of the air out of Bachmann’s campaign at that moment.

    I agree that it’s agony to wait for Perry to do something, but I think he’s waiting for just the right time.

    Personally, I think the media was baiting him with Herb and Perry did NOT take the bait.

    When you look at it as the media wants Romney as our nominee, what has to happen? Cain and Perry have to attack each other. That’s what happens on Jerry Springer, not in the most crucial presidential election of our lives.

  • trur

    equates to an 18% Tax on every purchase in States that already have local 9% Sales Taxes. Cain’s National Sales Tax is a Jobs Killer because the Middle Class will reduce discretionary spending and the poor will have to cut back on necessities. We can only squezze so much Tax out of the American People before it brings the economy to negative growth.

  • reggie182

    I don’t understand what going before the media and proving your chops has to do with timing.

    Perry was in freefall after the last debate and needed to reassure people that he isn’t out of his depth. The time for him to do that was immediately.

    Herman Cain was on This Week. Romney went on Huckabee’s program.

    Where is Rick Perry?

  • APA Guy

    78% “not Romney”, to me, means that in the absence of both Cain AND Perry imploding, he won’t be the choice once the levers are pulled come 2012 primary season.

    This race has become about whether Perry or Cain can capture the support of more GOP primary voters. I really like Herman Cain. I think his presence at the top of the ticket would force voters to really study the positions of the GOP and Dem candidates for president and realize that there ARE differences between the parties. It would also neutralize race as an issue, something that would help us big time with AA voters in 2012.

  • joayn

    yesterday gives me the impression that Cain seems to be suffering from RPDS – Rick Perry Derangment Syndrome.

    Hewitt had two great questions. First, would Cain admit to falling into the trap of the MSM on the rock story, which is, I think was most people’s take on it. His answer:

    “HH: (laughing) All right, Herman Cain, now I?ve got to go to the tough politics. I criticized your answers on Fox News Sunday and on ABC, because I think the media set a trap for you on the Rick Perry story. There was just no connection to the governor at all.

    HC: Yes.

    HH: Do you agree that they trapped you?

    HC: No, they didn?t trap me, because I basically said look, I don?t care when they painted over that sign, Hugh. It was insensitive for it to be there as long as it was. That was the point that I was trying to make. Secondly, I have also said that I do not believe that that sign, or that sign on that rock, is representative of how Governor Perry feels about black people in this country. I?m done with the story. They were trying to make it into a bigger story than it is. It was insensitive, I stand by that. It doesn?t matter who owned it, it doesn?t matter when they did it. All the way up to 1983? It was there way too long.

    HH: Does it have any reflection on Governor Perry whatsoever?

    HC: Not in my opinion, and in my opinion, it doesn?t have any reflection on Governor Perry. And I quite personally would rather people move on from that. It is a distraction. I want people to compare my economic growth and jobs plan to Governor Perry?s economic growth and jobs plan. I want people to focus on my economic growth and jobs plan versus Governor Romney?s economic growth and jobs plan. That?s what I want people to focus on.”

    Regarding his statement about not supporting Perry if he was the nominee. Here’s his answer:

    “HH: The other eyebrow raiser was when you told, I can?t remember who it was, and if I did, I wouldn?t give him the plug, that you couldn?t support Rick Perry right now. And I?m looking for all the Republicans except Ron Paul to say about all the other ones, I am going to support the nominee, regardless of who it is, that comes out of this process. Can you say that, Herman Cain?

    HC: I?ve got to answer that two ways. Now that?s an entrapment question.

    HH: (laughing)

    HC: I did say, Hugh, that based upon Governor Perry?s positions on some of the things today like being soft on securing the border, providing tuition assistance for children of illegal aliens, I have a heart, but I happen to believe you cannot basically provide incentives for people to keep doing the same illegal behavior. And based upon a number of other things, I can?t support him today based upon his position on things. That being said, I don?t think he?s going to get the nomination. Now if it?s one of those other candidates up there, I am going to support them 100%. If Governor Perry gets the nomination, I will still support him, but it won?t be 100%.

    So, he’d support Jon Huntsman or Gary Johnson 100% but not Rick Perry? And as long as he refuses to admit that the real story behind WaPost’s article was his error and not the story itself, it will not be put to rest.

    http://www.hughhewitt.com/blog/g/05446fb9-ebac-44e3-b373-a2213ecf916e

  • circlegranch

    Well said. These are the exact arguments of why Obama and his Leftie media pals continually slam Perry. If he’s a joke and absolutely has no chance, why do they bother to pound him? He’d fall in line w/ Huntsman and Santorum and get -0- attention. Which candidate do we think Obama wants to face? The guy that wrote the precursor to Obamacare for him or the guy that created more jobs than he could ‘hope’ for, plus signed a balanced budget for ’12-’13. Unfortunately, Perry doesn’t exhibit the debate skills needed to sell his success stories but facts are facts. Romney’s corporation buy-out’s killed jobs and he only served one term in office. His experience is weak by comparison but supposedly, its his turn.

  • robbyshankar

    It seems to me that Perry’s used to kicking the crap out of his opponents, and having the other candidates eat his lunch in Orlando hurt him. I think he’s afraid of getting nailed by the media or other candidates. He’s going to lay low, (and hopefully prepare) for a while until he feels better about coming out of his hole. I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns in a better performance at the upcoming debate and tries to use that along with his fundraising as a springboard back into front runner status.

  • unclefred

    I went back to the Cain web site.
    He refers one of the goals of his tax plan as “Is fair neutral transparent and efficient”. He also specifically says about the sales tax “This gets the Fair Tax off the sidelines and into the game”. Since the Fair Tax is not a VAT and since Cain has never described it as a VAT, is anyone assuming that it is a VAT?

  • sayoung80913

    The 999 plan just screams to me of having the same original INTENT as a program like SSN. It was originally intended to be voluntary,untouchable by the politicians, as a mean to take care of the VERY old(at the time anyway).
    Yes the intentions are good but then you have to rely on the good character and common sense of FUTURE congresses to uphold the law-if you are lucky enough to get it passed-which is doubtful. Look what a future congress did to SSN-they passed a law giving themselves access to the funds and look where we are with that now. Another congress decided to enlarge the recipient pool to include single moms, the disabled,etc.,etc. It is seriously politically naive to think you could pass a plan such as 9-9-9- and it would remain precisely the same, no matter who is in control of congress or the WH. Only a constitutional amendment would insure that the plan would stay the same- and there is maybe a 1 percent chance that will happen. A 9 percent equivalent of a VAT tax will soon be a 15 percent VAT tax and then before you know it a 20 percent VAT tax. I am over simplifying here but that is my biggest worry, and worse- the tax would no doubt soon become unpopular and our ever resourceful media would gleefully pin it on a CONSERVATIVE president.That worries me.
    I’m also not too sure about WHY Cain’s communications director and her assistant left last week? Does anyone know? WHY, after your candidate just won a debate and then a straw poll would you then resign-it doesn’t make sense because by all reports he is running on a skeleton crew? That interests me and worries me at the same time.

  • cowboyjonw

    Washington D.C. has more paper shredders then any town on earth and,I wish that we could throw the tax code in and start over the only hangup would be that they would have power blackout because all that paper would cause everything to go into overload.

  • joayn

    actually doing very well in New Hampshire, focusing on meeting people at one-on-one events. He was also in Riverside, CA yesterday at a fundraiser.

    Just because his every move isn’t reported doesn’t mean he’s not doing anything. And I couldn’t care less if he goes on ABC, NBC, or CBS. FOX at the moment is in love with Cain – so much so that I really think they should change their moniker to the FOX Cain show.

    I also read somewhere that Perry is working with Steve Forbes in putting together an economic policy. Anybody else hear of that?

    One thing I must say about Herman Cain. The man is nothing short of a great marketer. The timing of his book release is genius.

  • tyman

    I don’t mean to downplay business experience, but I’ve given this some thought lately. Just because someone has business experience doesn’t mean that I want them in The Oval Office.

    Ross Perot…tried that, thanks.
    Warren Buffett, he’s got business experience…um, no.
    Steve Jobs (God rest his soul)…great innovator, but he was WAY out there on the left…that leaves me scratching my head.
    Steve Forbes…he even ran for president, but no.
    Donald Trump…no
    MItt Romney…he’s got business experience, but he thinks Social Security’s a successful government program…yeah, try starting a mutual fund with a 1% rate of return (before taxes and inflation) and see what kind of takers you have.
    Ted Turner…maybe he could run for Hugo Chavez’s job
    Jeff Immelt…not after how he’s buddied with Obama.
    Bill Gates…maybe he could crash the government.

    I know that some of these are out in left field, but that’s my point: just because someone has run a large, multinational corporation doesn’t mean they are fit for The White House.

    If Cain wants to run for president, I think he should start at a lower office (he did run for Senate but was beaten pretty soundly by Johnny Isakson). As we’ve learned, presidential on the job training has dire consequences.

  • Jim Tomasik

    nt

  • Change Jar Conservative

    His four principles are great, but let’s see something along the lines of Gingrich, Huntsman, or Romney’s details.

    If he did and could make it through a debate without looking like a deer in headlights, he’d immediately jump to the front of the pack again.

  • Change Jar Conservative

    To me, it’s not a show stopper, but I think it could be for a lot of people. Sort of how I felt about Palin. I would vote for her, but I knew a lot of people who wouldn’t.

    I guess I’d have to see some more polling showing Cain doing reasonably well against Obama.

  • ThePoliticalHat

    [nt]

  • perry4prez

    This is exactly right, why are Republicans suddenly going gaga over a candidate who proposes to RAISE TAXES??? If there is one thing we know about government it’s that if you give politicians an inch they will take a mile and Peewee Herman proposes to give them a couple of feet with his 999 plan.

    The choice is very simple, if you go with Cain or his best buddy Romney you will get HIGHER TAXES and FEWER JOBS, if you go with Perry you will get LOWER TAXES and MORE JOBS. Perry doesn’t need an 84-page manifesto to prove this, he has already done the real work of creating jobs in Texas!

  • earlgrey

    nt.

  • unclefred

    I already pay state & local level taxes with my post tax dollars. Am I better off paying 9% income tax and a 9% sales tax on the things I buy with some portion of my money?

    YOU BET I AM.

    As is anyone currently paying federal income taxes. It’s not so good for the people who pay no income tax or get money back, but I want them to have some skin in the game, and they already pay 7.65% in payroll taxes that goes away so their income tax bite goes up 1.35%.

    As for a jobs killer? The employer pays a 7.65 percent payroll tax on every employee. That tax is gone, period. Further a 9% corporate tax and zero capital gains taxes is going to set off investment here pouring kerosine on the embers of a fire. You’ll see a spurt of job creation unlike anything in modern history.

  • reggie182

    The problem is he should already be prepared. He is running for President of the Unites States. Not class president.

    Perry isn’t a political neophyte like Herman Cain. He’s been in politics for many years. For him to come to this race and not unprepared to answer questions on policy until after the third debate is not very impressive.

    And I have to reiterate what others have asked. What is his plan? Saying “I’ll do what I did in Texas” doesn’t cut it. What Perry did in Texas primarily is to maintain the status quo. He is not a transformative governor. The biggest thing he ever proposed was the disastrous big government landgrab known as the Trans Texas Corridor which thankfully has so far been stopped.

  • red_oakster

    At this stage, it seems difficult to see Perry recovering. And Cain isn’t going anywhere either. Romney can lose in Iowa and South Carolina because the other two don’t seem likely to do anything in places like Ohio and Michigan and New York and California.

    Conservatives need an A-lister to win and right now they don’t have one.

  • damianvincent

    I agree about the media, what I don’t get are these ‘establishment’ beltway types pushing Romney down our throats. I saw more research on Christie who never made any real moves to run, than I’ve seen on Romney. They knew all the Christie quotes to drag out, they’ve literally turned over rocks from 30 years ago on Perry, yet no one has mentioned while Romney clubs Perry over immigration, Romney himself once advocated for amnesty.

    MITT ROMNEY: “But my view is that those 12 million who have come here illegally should be given the opportunity to sign up to stay here…”

    Why, because they see Romney as the weaker opponent, unable to capitalize on Obamacare, having written the precursor mandate and all, and unable to launch a serious effort to discredit Obama on the economy. After all Romney was third worst in the nation in job creation, a fact they won’t let a single person in this country forget.
    No one mentions that Romney was once a strong supporter of abortion and even called for gay scoutmasters in the Boy Scouts. What about Gun control, Romney is on the record many times supporting and defending Mass. strict gun control laws, saying I believe they make us safe. I don’t know a single Republican who think gun control laws make anyone safe. I can see why the media pulls this stuff, I expected as much, but what about these so called beltway Republicans? What Republican party are they in?

  • perry4prez

    Erick’s analysis is exactly right about Cain’s negatives but he left one thing out and that is Cain’s propensity to make gaffe after gaffe after gaffe. First it was on the right of return, then the “Perry is a racist” line – we need a candidate who is rock-solid behind Israel, not carping on about Perry’s rock LOL. Today there was the “blame the victim” line about people who have lost jobs due to the Obama Recession. Finally there was his idiotic comment about how he could never support Perry but was best buds with Romney. This guy is a Republican version of Joe Biden. But don’t let that bother you, just obsess over whether Perry got tongue-tied at a debate.

  • Whacker77

    For various reasons, I have settled on Romney. A year ago, I never thought we’d be in this position, but here we are. A crazy set of reasonable events conspired to make him the luckiest man in the Republican Party.

    I like Cain, but he has little in the way of a national campaign structure and that’s a problem. It can’t just be him and the 999 plan. On top of that, he’s going on a book tour for a month. That’s not the path of a serious candidate.

    I’m not over the moon about Romney, but that’s where I am. My hope is he chooses someone like Jeb or Christie for his VP. Both provide him something he lacks. Jeb gives him conservative policy chops. Christie gives him authenticity.

    I prefer Jeb as his VP because Mitt could easily go wobbly under pressure.

  • reggie182

    “I also read somewhere that Perry is working with Steve Forbes in putting together an economic policy. Anybody else hear of that?”

    Did Rick Perry decide to run for President while sitting by the pool this June, sipping a margarita?

    Who are we talking about here? Biff Tannen? He has to go to Steve Forbes to formulate his policy for him. He should already have a policy!

    Just unbelievable.

  • red_oakster

    The key number is showing which states either Perry or Cain could win in a 2-way race against Romney. Assuming a 2 man race, can either of these guys win Ohio or Florida or Wisconsin or California? The depressing answer is no. Either would play Huckabee to Romney’s McCain.

    The hard cold truth is that only a new entrant is likely to beat Romney now. Who? Paul Ryan is the only individual I can think of who would unite the conservative base. And Guiliani is the only other late entrant who could come in and defeat Romney in New Hampshire and steal Romney’s aforementioned path to victory.

  • gekster

    Don’t go with settled.
    That’s like going with the one I “think” will win.
    Go with the one in the race who holds most to your beliefs.
    If that one doesn’t make it through the primary, then go with settled.

    We don’t need no more McLoosers or Doles.

  • conservativemusician

    You beat me to it. Worse is that Romney won’t recant his support for Romneycare (an abject failure), which means that he probably won’t be very motivated to repeal Obamacare since he agrees in principle with it.

  • Scope

    at RCP today which says that Cain runs his own campaign. He has a staff of about 40, mostly in southern states, only 4 people in Iowa, and only a few people in NH. Cain said he is running his campaign as a new start up business, and is working on lean and mean. It sounds like Cain is not interested in taking anyone advice, he is doing it his way. While that is certainly his right, I think he is making a mistake in running something he has never run before, a presidential campaign, and many of his mistakes could be avoided if he spent some time talking with competent advisers who are experienced in campaigns. There was another article I read today also which was critical of Cain for not spending much time in Iowa, having so few people there, and he is not due back in Iowa until his book tour ends. In another article those in NH have similar complaints.

    In the Iowa article the author claimed that Perry still has a slight edge there, and has a hefty staff there. He is spending time there right now, will be leaving for the NH debate (ucky) and then will return to Iowa.

  • damianvincent

    Lets play the game, say by some miraculous stroke, Cain is able to pull this off, convinces the Congress to slash corporate and income tax rates to 9%. What happens to the deficit and debt without draconian budget cuts, and by draconian I mean ending medicare and medicade, the defense department too, and you’d still have about 20% to slash.

    A 9% sales tax will be extremely regressive in combination with state sales taxes driving down consumer spending, when 2/3 of our economy anymore is consumer driven. You start taxing consumption, you’ll reduce consumption, and that is 2/3 of our economy.

    Honestly I don’t think there is a chance at all of income and corporate tax rates dropping to 9%, what would be necessary to offset the revenue loss is politically impossible. I do think the 9% sales tax would happen, which would be extremely regressive, restrict consumer spending, and would most likely be raised and raised in the future.

  • perry4prez

    So he continues to say that Governor Perry was “insensitive” because he went hunting on land named by someone else with a rock graffitied by someone else that Rick Perry repainted too slowly for Peewee’s tastes? And then he says that’s not a criticism of Governor Perry?

    Fool, words mean things.

  • tyman

    The difference between a wise man and a fool is that a fool doesn’t learn from his mistakes! Still laughing!

  • http://www.planettron.com NickDeringer

    As usual Erick has hit the target, especially regards Cain. I agree that Perry might be our only hope to defeat Romney. As a resident of MA I can tell you we DO want to defeat Romney. Perry has his flaws, but the election is about jobs and the economy. We can hammer out the immigration issue later.

    1. Cain has never won political office.
    2. He is a gaffe machine that will eventually be his undoing.

  • perry4prez

    NT

  • Scope

    that this election will be all about personal destruction. Having a terrible record since Obama’s election, their only fall back is in pulling the race card. Who better to pull out that race card than the son of the foremost race baiter in the country, Jesseeeeeee Jackson, Jr.

    This is so off the wall someone should introduce a resolution against the stupidity of Mr. Race Baiter Jr.

  • http://www.WILLisms.com WILLisms

    Better late than never: http://rightwingnews.com/interviews/interviewing-rick-perry-on-illegal-immigration-2/

  • acat

    despite the fact that the window to register is almost closed, and there’s zero time to put together a competent campaign staff.

    Someone would almost have to take Pawlenty’s team as a fixer-upper… assuming they haven’t scattered to the four winds already.

    Why is it, cat asks himself, that you’re so focussed on a new entrant?

    I don’t see, unlike Erick apparently, how both Cain and Perry can continue indefinitely, and of the two, Cain’s the weaker campaigner.

    Mew

  • BA Cyclone

    but have you ever heard of a mimosa?

    …at the risk of continuing any level of discussion on Stoopid Political Topic #11,873

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …and every time I read/memorize more of “Fed UP!”…I am more convinced that only Rick can be the nominee.

    Handicapping yields the customary rejections [Paul, Santorum, Bachmann, Huntsman, Johnson, The Newt, Roehmer] and the need for a fawning-MSM to scrutinize Cain.

    Cain was indeed flummoxed when initially adhering to the WPost hit-piece and then disqualifying support for Perry as a result thereof [with immigration mixed-in]. And he flipped on auditing the fed–inexplicably–while admitting ignorance of foreign policy.

    That Mitt adopted the D-approach when attacking Rick on SS…and then having an aide admit he had edited-out endorsement of the individual-mandate when composing his paperback…these reflect problems that won’t go away.

    So, once Rick is OK next week, the Cain-protest will melt, the 2-way race will return, and the others will gradually melt-away. Then, endorsements from Rush, The Donald, and Sarah will seal the deal; if they are delayed, the voting will continue until it’s clear that Mitt’s 30%-ceiling won’t be penetrated.

    All he has to do is keep quoting from his book, for a lot of people need to learn how he has applied his fundamental principles….

  • Lock_Piatt

    All the polls I am seeing have 1/3 to 50% of Republicans – well in most States it will be Republicans that select the winner will it not? So, what is the deal with including people that can not even VOTE in the primary = stupid wast of time and means zero.

  • BA Cyclone

    Cutting deficits has nothing to do with tax rates, that has to do with:

    1. economic growth, and
    2. spending

    The 9-9-9 plan attacks #1 in FORCE by vastly simplifying the tax codes, thus making it business and job-creator friendly. By several exponential degrees. Also, don’t forget that sales taxes are “reimbursable” in the world trade setting as credits. So it’s a double-down benefit for job creators.

    Cutting spending is a totally different topic, which Cain has addressed multiple times already. Recall “horizontal cuts and vertical cuts”. I doubt you’ll get many specifics there unless he is the nominee, or he is really close in Jan/Feb.

    As for whether plan X or plan Y is too regressive; well golly gee when 47% of the eligible taxpayers PAY ZERO TAXES (some have negative taxes) then pretty much any SANE restructuring of the tax code would on net be regressive by comparison. That is not a valid argument. Here, you can use the words of Democrats directly against them, when they continually trot around the country and say “it’s patriotic to pay your taxes”. Well, then everyone should pay some!

    I believe Herman Cain is more than capable of navigating the rhetoric required to sell this plan. The honest issue with him as a candidate will be the truly drive-by attacks of the media on sidebar issues that people truly don’t care about, such as painted rocks and mosques in Tennessee. He needs to stay on point with laser focus and not try to be cute and likeable with every single question.

  • BA Cyclone

    Cutting deficits has nothing to do with tax rates, that has to do with:

    1. economic growth, and
    2. spending

    The 9-9-9 plan attacks #1 in FORCE by vastly simplifying the tax codes, thus making it business and job-creator friendly. By several exponential degrees. Also, don’t forget that sales taxes are “reimbursable” in the world trade setting as credits. So it’s a double-down benefit for job creators.

    Cutting spending is a totally different topic, which Cain has addressed multiple times already. Recall “horizontal cuts and vertical cuts”. I doubt you’ll get many specifics there unless he is the nominee, or he is really close in Jan/Feb.

    As for whether plan X or plan Y is too regressive; well golly gee when 47% of the eligible taxpayers PAY ZERO TAXES (some have negative taxes) then pretty much any SANE restructuring of the tax code would on net be regressive by comparison. That is not a valid argument. Here, you can use the words of Democrats directly against them, when they continually trot around the country and say “it’s patriotic to pay your taxes”. Well, then everyone should pay some!

    I believe Herman Cain is more than capable of navigating the rhetoric required to sell this plan. The honest issue with him as a candidate will be the truly drive-by attacks of the media on sidebar issues that people truly don’t care about, such as painted rocks and mosques in Tennessee. He needs to stay on point with laser focus and not try to be cute and likeable with every single question.

  • Scope

    I’ve read a few asking the question, will Sarah endorse Cain? Remembering back to the 2010 mid-terms, in many races Palin waited until it was becoming more clear of who the winner would be before endorsing that person. I believe the Buck/Fiorina race was one of them. She also was not consistent in endorsing the most conservative in the race. The most visible was between Ovide and Ayotte.

    There are some wondering aloud just how important a Palin endorsement would be. In a piece at Commentary, Tobin quotes Krauthammer saying that her announcing that she wouldn’t run had about as much impact as announcing the sun would rise in the east. Most knew that that would be the ultimate decision, but in taking so long to make the decision, she turned what was an important voice for conservatism into almost irrelevancy. I’m sure some will take her seriously, mostly her most ardent supporters, but for the most part, it won’t make or break any candidate.

  • BA Cyclone

    sounds a lot like John Kerry in 2004 — “it’s all on my website.”

    I don’t think that qualifies as a valid campaign strategy. He needs to go out and sell it convincingly and simply when the cameras are rolling.

    Herman Cain can do that, and that is why he has momentum right now. Rick Perry might have to use some of his campaign finances to roll scads of TV ads to do that for him, if he can’t do it in front of a live audience.

  • obxster

    As far as we need a candidate to stand rock solid behind Israel, Cain was the only candidate to attend Glen Becks rally in Israel and he wasn’t on stage, he was in the audience as a participant with all the others who attended.

  • perry4prez

    My main point is not that Cain is weak on Israel (I assume he would back off his stupid comment once he was educated about it) but that he is prone to Gaffes.

  • westcoastpatriette

    Read it in the Press-Enterprise. So, where is Perry?

  • msjallen

    can get over “themsleves” and focus on what the American people need and turn this country around then we will have a good president. It would be interesting to see if any of them can get that through to us.
    Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn?.

  • msjallen

    jumped to a conclusion without checking it out. The same as 0 did with the police officer.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    Monday he was catigating Cain, saying Cain’s response should have been something like:

    A fine and upstanding man like Rick Perry would never do anything like that. God will strike you down for even suggesting that a saint like Rick Perry could even be associated with something like that. How dare you even ask me such a question about that wonderful and flawless man Rick Perry. I’ve had enough, this interview is over, because you had the bad taste and audacity to bring such a vile accusation against such a fine man as Rick Perry.

    I’m paraphrasing, of course, but that was the gist of what he thought Cain should have said.

  • obxster

    I see only one candidate who speaks with conviction of his ideas, who does not equivocate, and because of that you either stand with him or against him. That man to me is Herman Cain.
    Book tours are a contractual agree with any publisher. A writer does not go on a book tour all on their lonesome. The publisher pays for advertising and organization. The costs may come out of the writers profits or payed for with the publishers profits or a shared agreement.
    Herman Cain may have a gaffe once in awhile but they all do that and as long as it isn’t something horrible who cares.
    Herman Cain was the only candidate to attend Glen Becks rally in Israel and he was in the audience with everyone else.
    Herman Cain’s 999 plan makes sense to me and he has repeatedly stated that he wouldn’t push that till the requirements to implement it are meant and that is to ditch the current tax code completely. He does have a plan to transition that to a fair tax. At least he has a plan I can believe in and understand.

  • msjallen

    Perry’s coming….

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    and come up with just as (if not more) disturbing results.

    The only thing political experience is a plus for is (1) getting elected, and (2) working with the beuracracy, and (3) making deals with other politicians.

    There is nothing about poltical experience that makes you smarter than non-politicians.

  • joayn

    Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you’re turning in a candi-bot.

  • davesinsanantonio

    if you don’t have principles, then your plan is just a hodge-podge that is merely a reaction to some current conditions. What will you do when those conditions change?
    Principles, preferably conservative, Constitution supporting, free market supporting, first, last, and always. Absent abiding principles, your plans could end up proposing anything, based on the whims and winds of current events and political popularity and expediency. I would rather trust someone with solid, conservative principles and no plan than someone with a great plan and no principles.

  • joayn

    … into a candi-bot. Heh.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …if memory serves, she endorsed Nikki when she was an unknown.

    Also, Charles made the same point last night on FNC, but it’s not controlling; when she had blown her self-imposed deadline, she lost some gravitas.

    Jonathan was incorrect, however, when he claimed she has self-marginalized…

    http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/10/06/palin-irrelevant-candidac/

    …because many people respect her input.

    Furthermore, he was incorrect when he claimed she had erred when resigning ["Palin?s subsequent decisions to resign as governor of Alaska and to transform herself into more of a celebrity and reality TV star than anything else diminished her ability to present herself as a serious person"] because, it may be recalled, she was being hounded by all the ethics claims…and she turned control of the gubernatorial structure to a fellow-travelers. Thus, she was liberated to help other conservatives, and her subsequent track-record was both enviable and potentially pivotal in 2010.

    In addition, Tobin is incorrect when he claimed she “hated” the MSM; she simply decided how she wanted to negotiate it…a lesson Rick Perry is now painfully learning. Perhaps he over-reacts now in response to his 2008 overreaction…

    http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/36320

    …instead of simply recognizing that she is worthy of being given the space to do her own thing, in her own way. This is the message that has been touted during the past 24-hours regarding the legacy of Steve Jobs [Stanford speech, a few years ago], and this is what she is now living-out.

    Thus, her endorsement would indeed be important…particularly in concert with those of others.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    I didn’t write that he should simply say it’s in my book; I advocated that he draw from what he wrote during the debates.

    There’s a lot of wisdom in that slim tome [and I didn't read his other book about the Boy Scouts, but I suspect there are plenty of intellectual/ethical insights therein, as well].

    So, let’s hear him “share the wealth”!

  • joayn

    n/t

  • Change Jar Conservative

    But I’ll need specifics by the end of November and sooner if possible.

    I know Perry isn’t a policy wonk, but that doesn’t mean that he couldn’t hire someone who is.

  • joayn

    thing on Monday, so I’d hardly blame Hugh Hewitt for not being objective. Dismissing Hewitt will not change the reality of the situation.

  • westcoastpatriette

    It is exactly what needs to be said and heard to reassure those legitimately concerned about Perry’s positions on illegal immigration. I am much consoled myself now as I so want to believe in Perry. A must read for those who want to hear detail on this issue.

  • tyman

    Why else would Jesse Jackson want to condemn him in the U.S. House of Reps.? They only do that because they know he is formidable and they do fear him.

    If it were Huntsman or Santorum, I very seriously doubt it would have garnered any thought.

    Thankfully, the measure was defeated.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    We complain about Obama wanting to tax the spread the wealth by taxing the rich and letting 47% of Americans pay zero taxes, but the truth is the system has been moving slowly in that direction for the past 50 YEARS.

    Obama didn’t create this tax system, he’s just speeding up the direction it was going anyway.

    If we do nothing, then the tax burden will continue to shift more and more onto the backs of those at the top end of the scale. While the tax burden will be eliminated from more and more people (and not just eliminated, remember that under our current system a significant percentage of “taxpayers” actually make money off the system–they should be called “tax-getters”.

    What happens when 60% of Americans not only pay zero in taxes, but most get money back (redistributed wealth)? That’s the road we’re headed down on the current system. I don’t know if it will be 10 years or 50 years, but that’s where we’re headed.

    Oh sure, there will be some tweaks on the way. Occasionally taxes will go down, but over the long run–if we continue with the current system–we’re headed to a point where more than a majority don’t pay any taxes, and will demand that the rest of socieity pay for their lifestyles.

  • davesinsanantonio

    invited? Did he offer and they turned him down or put him off? Are there other places he could be, other things he could be doing besides going on those liberal to super-liberal shows? Would going on a program that wants to sink his ship really help him in his campaign. Who in the conservative arena watches those things anyway? How would those shows help him any?

    As for the argument down thread that he should have been prepared before he announced, it has been often said, by those who have been there, that you are never prepared for it. They are saying if you haven’t been a candidate for president before, there is no way to prepare because it is such a unique, grueling experience. You need not look beyond this year’s crop to see that every one of them was unprepared in some way or another, except Mittens, because he had been there recently. So, let’s not forget that the first actual votes in any primary is still about 3 months away. And the general election is still a year away. Try to relax just a little and let the candidates sort it out before we all panic.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    How do we address that under any plan?

    Who has a plan that addresses our current deficit spending? Who? Nobody. Where’s the Perry plan that addresses that 40 cents without draconian cuts? Where the Romney plan that addresses that 40 cents without draconian cuts?

    Cain at least is prenting a plan that he thinks will allow us to address the defecit with a combination of growth and cuts.

    Nobody else has anything.

  • Right Reason

    You’ve got a whole slew of posts out there ostensibly lamenting Romney’s inevitability. My gut tells me you’re trying to cultivate said inevitability by sowing a bit of defeatism among those who hope for someone else.

    I’d like to see some solid analysis on your part as to how, exactly, Perry’s and Cain’s flaws are fatal to their candidacy, and Romney’s flaws will not have a similar effect on his.

    It is apparent from the long-term track of the polls that Romney has been unable to expand on his original base of support. I think it far more likely that the remaining 78% are going to slowly coalesce around one of the other choices rather than submit to the Borg candidacy of Romney. There are just too many similarities to McCain 2008 for Romney to succeed in this cycle.

  • perry4prez

    “what I don?t get are these ?establishment? beltway types pushing Romney down our throats. I saw more research on Christie who never made any real moves to run, than I?ve seen on Romney” – the establishment doesn’t like Romney’s religion any more than evangelicals do, that is why they were pressing Christie to run. The difference being that in the establishment’s case it is pure bigotry (“don’t let them into the Country Club”) whereas for evangelicals it is a result of considered analysis of doctrines that we find flawed for example becoming gods on other planets.

  • bobguzzardi

    Like Margaret Thatcher, Rick Perry has been a legislator and executive for years and his ideas are well known as is he and he has formulated them well, as my colleague, dr. bob points out, in Fed Up.

    Read the book and it is as if Rick Perry is thinking your thoughts.

    Rick Perry is The Guy

  • perry4prez

    “Cain is running his campaign like a new start up business” – what a load of crock, all campaigns are like this, if Facebook was run like the Cain campaign it would have like 100 users and we would all be using MySpace.

  • http://nerds4cain.com Brookhaven

    and it seems to me he is in for Perry this time.

    I’m not dismissing him, but more so than other conservative talk hosts, he seems to get behind one person and push them.

    Honestly, I was a little shocked at just how one sided Hewitt was on the issue. He seemed think it unreasonable that Cain was even offended by the N-word (really? a black guy isn’t supposed to take offense at the N-word?) What’s Cain supposed to say? “That N-word thing is old hat, no big deal, doesn’t bother me at all when people say it.” Really?

  • perry4prez

    And why would the Dark horse be better than Perry?

  • eabjr

    Is there any one that says things perfect every single time? And what have we put up with after Reagan in our nominees? Have they not been ONE huge gaffe? i.e. “I believe in limited, constitutional government …!” They have not…I am tired of the REAL gaffes therefore. This focus on some of Cain’s responses have lowered substantive discussion…and to think we are left w/ Romney or Perry, and that we think were are discussing constitutional approaches to Government in discussing them reveals all too much amongst our own…

  • eabjr

    Is there any one that says things perfect every single time? And what have we put up with after Reagan in our nominees? Have they not been ONE huge gaffe? i.e. ?I believe in limited, constitutional government ?!? They have not?I am tired of the REAL gaffes therefore. This focus on some of Cain?s responses have lowered substantive discussion?and to think we are left w/ Romney or Perry, and that we think were are discussing constitutional approaches to Government in discussing them reveals all too much amongst our own?

  • red_oakster

    I think Romney has a huge edge at this point and I think he’ll be a weak, finger in the wind kind of leader.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    When I was trained in NYC during the late-1970′s how to debate representatives of the Tobacco Institute on the MSM, I was taught to answer the direct query, and then transition within 10 seconds to the message I wanted to convey.

  • trur

    I pray for the best for Mr. Cain’s health but I am simply not comfortable with his VP choice.

  • perry4prez

    Like it or not there is a significant portion of the Republican party that adores Palin so much that an endorsement will be meaningful so we have to work to make sure it is for Governor Perry. I also agree that most (not all) of Palin’s endorsements blow with the wind. The reason that the presidential endorsement will not be one of the exceptions is that it is so important, if she endorses someone who loses the presidency then it really looks like she has lost the magic touch. This was not the case with the New Hampshire Senate race.

  • rightwingmom52

    . . .

  • davesinsanantonio

    unproductive. If you can’t decide on a person, decide on what overriding principles are important to you and sell those to the candidates and / or other voters. Then, as things progress toward your state’s primary (or caucus) see which candidates most closely adhere to the principles you demand. It is too early to “settle” because we haven’t seen all the candidates really tested yet, nor have all the issues been aired yet in the debates or stump speeches. Don’t be in such a hurry to have the hard part over with. The hard part is hard for a reason, let it do its work.

  • red_oakster

    He’s weak and I think he’d squander the chance for meaningful change.

    Second, I prefer Perry to Romney, but I happen to agree with those who thought he destroyed himself in the recent debate.

    I’ve said elsewhere the 78% is misleading. Romney in a two man race against of Cain or Perry has huge advantages at this point. Romney can lose South Carolina and Iowa and it won’t matter because neither Perry nor Cain can compete in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Ohio, let alone New York and California. Had Perry shown even a minimal competence in the debates, the reverse would be true. That Perry and his advisors could not anticipate this is about the most monumental folly that we’ve seen this campaign season (though Newt’s attack on Paul Ryan is a close second).

    It was Perry’s race to lose and I fear he’s lost it.

    Nothing’s inevitable, but I’m exasperated at the thought the GOP is going to nominate such a weak reed.

    Finally, I’m hoping against hope someone else gets in. Specifically Paul Ryan is the guy who could turn this around. However, I would prefer Guiliani to Romney any day of the week-and I say that as a social conservative.

  • reggie182

    I’m sorry, but that is the Palin excuse for avoiding big media interviews. These programs won’t sink him if he’s got his stuff together.

    And yes, no one is fully prepared to run for President. But there is such a thing as “adequate preparation”, or “any preparation at all”.

  • perry4prez

    1. “Rick Perry is insensitive” – in fact, Rick Perry was so sensitive to the rock that he painted over the epithet the first chance he got, it was not his land, it was not his rock, it was not his graffiti, it was not even his hunting trip (it was his father’s) but he still took the initiative. That is called being a LEADER not being insensitive.

    2. “Palestinians should have the right of return” – when the Jews who had their land in Europe stolen returned, maybe. Not until then.

    3. “People who lost their jobs have themselves to blame” – this is the Obama recession, we are shackling job creators with Taxes and Regulations. This is not the fault of people who get laid off because of the uncertain regulatory environment, it is OBAMA’S fault. I agree with the person who said this is Peewee’s “Dukakis in the Tank” moment.

    4. “I cannot support Rick Perry under any circumstances” – he is just cozying up to Romney.

    Like I say, he is the Republican version of Joe “Foot in Mouth” Biden.

  • damianvincent

    I agree 100% here, and it’s why I support Perry so much.

  • carolina

    I also look forward to getting past the crowd of people on the debate stage.
    The best is yet to come!

  • http://www.fpcr.org balloonjuice

    Maybe it was vinegar. I find I must drink some vinegar each day to prevent me from otherwise being much to *sweet* to people. Maybe that is also Mr. Cain’s problem.

  • powertothepeople

    elections are won over a long period of time backed by tons of cash. If people think a two or three week poll burst is what will push Cain onto victory, they are as mistaken as Bachmann’s supporters were.

    No way Cain last much longer. He has not even began to reach the point where a campaign sinks a half a million or more a day into the fray. He has not even got past the first few primaries which are yet to push his budget to the limit and he is already trailing bad in the funds department. Not too mention he keeps opening his mouth which is going to damage him more and more.

    Unless he stops with the “rock’ nonsense and somehow finds a way to generate no less than millions a week in donations, his days as a contender are numbered.

  • perry4prez

    @red_oakster, no one disputes that Romney is terrible but what is wrong with Perry as an alternative? The only reason Romney has an edge is because of the also-rans. If the party can convince them to drop out then Romney loses his edge.

  • cwfoster

    I remember an election cycle, where everybody said the upstart was “another Goldwater” and “unelectable” the campaigns went on and the press did the dogpile number on the upstart. The Establishment favorite was conservative, but comfortable. He had impeccable foreign policy experience, the upstart, none. The impossible happened, and the upstart won the nomination, and selected the establishment favorite as his VEEP, the upstarts name was Ronald Wilson Reagan, and EVERYBODY SAID HE COULDN’T GET ELECTED! He was the first man I ever voted for for President. I haven’t felt good about voting for a presidential candidate since 1984. At least I didn’t feel quite so sick in 1988 as I did in 2008.

    Keep saying Cain can’t win Oakster! I LOVE those odds! The best thing Cain can do, is focus on his message. The main reason people I meet don’t support him, is they haven’t heard of him.. He’s picking up campaign volunteers in one of the bluest of the blue states (Maryland) 10-15 a day, and think of how they will translate into votes. People are sick of the business as usual same old same old politics and politicians and THAT is one of Cains strengths that neither Perry nor Romney can counter.

  • http://www.fpcr.org balloonjuice

    holding a townhall meeting in Derry. Don’t know if he held any others, but while C-span is not exactly prime time, he is apparently out there pressing the flesh.

    We always knew he was going to do terribly in the debates. He refused even to debate White in the last Gov. election. We didn’t know it was going to be an 8 member dogpile, but we knew it would be bad. He’s doing what he does best. Speechifying.

  • uncmike

    with some complicated economic plan implemented by the government. I want a candidate who will promise to do all he can to get government out of the way of those who know how to do it. Romney’s plan, with all its 50 some points, is just a policy wonk’s dream. I’m looking for a candidate who has real conservative beliefs and is not afraid to state them and govern by them. I want a candidate whose economic plan (if you want to call it that) includes revoking obamacare; vastly reducing the size of of the federla bureaucracy, especially regulatory agencies; throwing out every presidential directive implemented by obama, including executive orders and regulations, as well as those issued by previous presidents that impede economic rebound (this should be done the first week he/she is in office). I don’t want a president trying to micromanage the economy in the arrogant belief he can fix it with a bit more government meddling and tinkering.

  • red_oakster

    If this is the field, I want Perry to win. I just don’t think he has much of a chance after his performances.

    I am hoping for a late Ryan candidacy because I think Perry is a (disappointingly) weak candidate.

  • carolina

    So, any voter can vote, not just registered republicans.

  • renl57

    Maybe Cain is still on a low maintenance dose of chemo, and the wine helps to settle his stomach?

  • renl57

    Even if the Dems increased the VAT tax, remember that this is a tax on consumption, not investment.

    And moving America to less consumption and more investment is what we should be advocating anyway.

    Not all taxes are equally bad.

    The problem with high marginal income tax rates is that they are disincentives to working and investing. A higher VAT tax is not.

    And if we don’t have a VAT tax, then the Dems will keep increasing the income tax, which is much worse for our economic future.

    We need to let go of this Grover Norquist-inspired fantasy about “starving the government.” We’ve seen from history that it just doesn’t work that way. Cutting taxes does not “starve the government” or force the government into making deep cuts. The government keeps spending anyway, and we just end up with huge deficits and spiraling debt.

    So we might as well focus on cutting government spending as much as possible, and then choosing to fund the remaining government functions more with a VAT than with income tax.

  • septembergurl

    to the Not-Obama stage. As Obama falls, and voters indicate a willingness to terminate his Presidency after one term,, Republicans find themselves still searching for their ideal candidate. That would be Generic Republican, the one who beats Obama in the head-to-heads. GR is not running, though, so let us see if we can discern the outlines of the Not-Obama.

    I look at the Rasmussen head-to-heads for data here — a poll done on a rotating basis with each of the candidates vs Obama. Obama wins all these contests, some by double digits, though Romney has edged him a few times. This is the stature gap, which every sitting President benefits from. But who runs closest to Obama, ie, trails by single digits?

    There are four: Romney, Perry, Huntsman and Cain. (These are polls from the period between Ames and Cain’s breakout last week, at a time when Cain was polling at 5-7 nationally and Huntsman at his usual 1%)

    Clearly there is a premium on executive experience combined with a record of leadership in business/government. This is the first Not-Obama requirement -demonstrated success at running an enterprise. Romney has been a CEO and a Governor, as well as succesfully running the Olympics in Utah. Cain has been a successful CEO. Perry is the longest-serving Governor in the country. Huntsman has been a Governor and a CEO as well as twice an Ambassador, which is also an executive position.

    Secondly, all four have put out economic plans of varying complexity, dealing with taxes and tax reform,, jobs, spending and regulatory reform. So, this is another quality the not-Obama needs to demonstrate — a focus on the economy, jobs, etc, and less on other issues.

    Ideology, to my way of thinking, comes in third when we are looking at who our candidate will be. For one thing, all our candidates are conservative, pro-business, pro-life and pro gun rights. Yes, the Libertarians wander off into the weeds on drugs and foreign policy, while other candidates display unfortunate RINO tendencies — but on the whole this is a conservative field.

    So what do these four have to do to become the Not_Obama?

    Cain: He is running a regional Southern campaign, largely, and is not well positioned in the first two contests. My guess is he will try to pick off several Southern states, which is possible if Perry continues to fade, and use these to bargain at the end of the race. I have issues with his tax plan, his support for TARP, his health.

    Huntsman: Continuing his long march through the media, he whacks Palin on the View for stringing people along and being a money-grubber (way to pick up the Palin voters, dude). Next week he makes a detailed foreign policy speech, which, like his economic plan, will be brilliant and bold, ignored by conservatives and yet very likely to be what the Not-Obama runs on.

    Perry: He needs to fill in the blanks, not run as if this race is simply Texas writ large. He knows that, though. He needs substance, and he needs a better response team. His is extremely slow. But he has shown the ability to raise money, to organize, and is especially good at retail politics.

    Romney: He has been running as the Not-Obama from the beginning. The fact that he has a ceiling of 20-25% shows that people are not buying it, at least not yet. He needs to overcome people’s lack of trust in him,, I am not sure how to do that.

  • kestrel

    Perry and Ryan were planning to talk. One of Ryan’s mentors was Jack Kemp. “Ryan has hoped that he might play the role of Jack Kemp to the next Ronald Reagan.”
    http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/paul-ryan-passes-run-president_590514.html

    Perry has governed long enough to be neither threatened by, nor overawed by a wonk. I can envision these two working together and each telling the other privately (Ryan deferentially, Perry maybe more bluntly) when the other is wrong. Can’t you?

    Perry could focus on the big picture: unleashing the private sector to create jobs, righting our ship of state in the world, and making government as inconsequential in our lives as possible, while Ryan does the nitty-gritty budget work, including structural tax and entitlement reform and implementing the market-based healthcare reform that has been so widely recommended for 30 years (as stated here):

    http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=ni9pp8dab&v=001M1I81bNGpIAbWEOOOAsQFbeO7iZ5LBFQTRitl66y_UqHNCzmg1RrYna5w61AudRhkORN5UBlfx3S2uvH2yNrM9zkiH1YrmtOg88Grldsuk-WaoOfOPqC9rpmFG7SHTEV2NcSZQpm52kkatZmfwirmU1F0O7XW1jybgfwpofqqPsz4koHVlLXpgesRan0mojOfEx96dGgErCqy2lSL69f9nnCfxwspigrKxXrmsHtqqs%3D

    Good grief, what a honking long line. It’s Quin Hillyer’s “Ryan: Saving Private Medicine” Here’s more:
    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/278485/paul-ryans-repeal-and-replace-speech-nro-staff#more

    What say you, CJC? Are you seriously thinking of electing hair?
    Yes, just kidding there. But we need someone with political courage.

  • ihavehadit

    I am for Perry and have not wavered since he entered the race. I visit my daughter in Texas and see what he has done. My daughters husband transfered when his company relocated to Texas and they love it. Perry and the Republican legislature have created the environment for companies to create the jobs. Just as he said in the Fox Debate. Create the environment in American and the businesses will create the jobs. Simple people

  • acat

    After all, Newt arguably did the best in all of them.

    I think you’re over-valuing these debased beauty pageants we’re calling debates .. especially since there’s several (a dozen?) more ahead.

    Mew

  • trur

    We could do a whole lot worse than President Gingrich, e.g., President Mitt or President Herb.

  • acat

    Paul Ryan would be a great add to any administration.

    Mew

  • APA Guy

    Surely you remember that presidential debate…you know, the one where he paused for what seemed to be an eternity and blinked into the camera about 40 times before he answered the question incoherently? I think it was the stage debate he had with Kerry, and it didn’t seem to “destroy” his chances.

    One debate 14 months from the election does not a presidential change destroy. You would do well to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

  • acat

    Herman Cain do you dislike so strongly?

    Who are your top three – out of the declared candidates – and why?

    Will you vote for the nominee?

    I’m asking because Gingrich has zero chance of winning the primary; my reply to red_oakster above was to point out that there’s been too much emphasis on the alleged debates, just as there’s too much attention on the Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries.

    Your quick agreement, trur, leaves me wondering where you stand.

    Mew

  • APA Guy

    I am very skeptical of people who preface criticism with preemptive damage control. No offense intended, it just seems to be one of those inevitable “smoke and fire” situations whenever one is preceded by the other.

  • tyman

    I was only responding to the previous poster’s question.

    Just to say that Herman Cain is electable because he has business experience is what I was trying to illustrate.

    I agree about the “disturbing results” applying to politicians.

    The political experience that you put as #1…”getting elected” just made my point. Does Cain have an effective national campaign and a fundraising network? I know he’s climbing the polls now, but he’s doing that as a result of Perry’s debate performance and being elevated to prima donna status by the LSM (once the media’s finished with Cain, I think his drop in the polls will be as precipitous). If a candidate doesn’t have the experience to get elected, nothing else matters.

    Sadly, working with the bureaucracy is part of being a politician. I don’t like it any more than you do, it sounds like, but experience is a plus.

    The third thing you list applies to working with others, or as you put it “making deals with other politicians”. As the Marxist-in-Chief has learned the hard way, being the president doesn’t mean you get it your way all of the time (go to Burger King if you want that). Barack Obama (and I’m not comparing Herb to BHO…mmm, mmm, mmm) has shown that he has very little policy experience in terms of legislation and negotiations. Reagan, on the other hand, was a master at that; that’s why he got so many Dems to vote with him on the tax cuts in the 80s.

    Not knowing the makeup of the Congress in January of 2013, I think it will be tough for a political novice like Cain to get legislation run through. I think that Congressmen and Senators might have a strong sense of resentment that here’s this new President who doesn’t have a clue how things work, and he’s coming to get his way. I think that they would be all the more determined to show him—the hard way— how things are done.

    I supported Cain at first, but then I realized he would have a fundraising problem and he has no political experience, good or bad.

    Before it’s over with, I think Flipper’s gonna give ol’ Herm an education real quick on why you need political experience. I hate to keep bringing it up, but Cain should have seen what the LSM was trying to do. They’re not trying to make Cain look good, they’re simply using him as an accomplice to smear Perry for Romney’s gain. No smarter than I am, I can see that.

    Just because someone says they’re going to do this or that doesn’t mean that they will be able to. The 999 is a perfect example of Cain’s naivete. As someone else said, 999 will become 29-29-29.

    If Cain is the nominee, I’ll do everything I can to support him over Obama. But, I still don’t like the way he’s attacked Perry and misrepresented his stance on illegal immigration, etc.

  • Scope

    I just heard Baier saying something about now having the GOP candidates come and sit among the panel, one at a time, to answer questions posed by the panelists. I wonder if Perry will even be invited. I’d tell them to go pound sand.

  • Scope

    n/t

  • rickindenver

    An immediate 9 % across the board cut in all agencies and departments including defense!

  • Change Jar Conservative

    Mitch Daniels would be better for one not that I’m expecting him to be the guy.

  • red_oakster

    just skeptical Perry can win. He has fallen through the floor in places like Virginia and Florida. That said, if this is the field, I want Perry.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …online after 7 p.m.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/special-report/live-event

  • pantera

    If Wall Street Romney has a conservative congress he’ll be conservative.
    Cain will be a conservative. I guess but we don’t know.

    By the time the election rolls around the cities will be burning. Because they wont be able to vote so the elections will be nullified if O loses.

  • westcoastpatriette

    She deserves another look. You can watch the interview on Fox’s website.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    …but the executive branch does more than sign legislation; appointments and the implementation of directives to dismantle a bureaucracy will be more apt to be implemented by a true constitutional conservative.

  • trur

    to say the least and politically it is ridiculous to assume that Congress will reduce the Income taxes to 9% when we have 15,000,000,000,000.00+ Trillion in debt.

    What congress will do is pass Cain 9% National Sales Tax which will soon become a 29+% Tax on Americans.

  • Scope

    I have no idea about Pew Polls but maybe you could shed some light for me on what this means. I noticed that the last day of the pooling was done on Oct.4, which I think is later than the other polls released. Is Pew reliable at all?

  • avagreen

    Herman Cain praised TARP bailouts, chided “free market”:
    http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/…-market-purist
    http://www.unitedliberty.org/article…ut-herman-cain

    Herman Cain supports big-government liberal Republican Mitt Romney:
    http://classic-web.archive.org/web/2….com/hc098.htm

    Herman Cain Tries to Be “Outsider” But Is Really A Political Establishment Insider:
    http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011…de-status.html

    Herman Cain supported the bailouts:
    http://004eeb5.netsolhost.com/hc133.htm
    http://004eeb5.netsolhost.com/hc129.htm
    http://www.newworldradical.com/2011/…rman-cain.html

    Herman Cain doesn’t think the Federal Reserve should be audited (he’s a former Fed chair himself):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiAke…layer_embedded

    Herman Cain has flip-flopped on the issue of the Federal Reserve:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caeNX…layer_embedded
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2Mqi…layer_embedded

    Herman Cain doesn’t think the Federal Reserve should be audited but yet the Fed bailed out foreign banks, including Libya (Col. Gaddafi):
    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gues…ost-from-feds-…

    More secrets about the Federal Reserve recently discovered that Herman Cain doesn’t think the American People should know:

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0…rs-secret.html

    What else is the Federal Reserve hiding from the People that Herman Cain doesn’t want people to know:
    http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/0…52624P20090308

    CONCLUSION?
    Herman Cain is a Federal Reserve apologist, an establishment opportunist, and big-government RINO politician who puts bankers first and Americans last.

  • avagreen

    I coped and pasted them from another post I’d made.
    :(

  • avagreen

    but, I consider Pew Polls reliable.

    But, depends upon their sampling size.
    http://www.thejewishweek.com/blogs/political_insider/pew_poll_bad_news_jewish_democrats_its_complicated ;(

  • carolynr

    Look at the evidence. what is our problem in America and what is his position and how has he implemented it. EVIDENCE…EVIDENCE…EVIDENCE. No more empty suits.

  • carolynr

    You are right on…and this isn’t American Idol…it’s about RESULTS…AND RIGHT NOW…WE NEED THEM…BADLY

  • kestrel

    Go to Martha’s Vineyard.

  • carolynr

    OK?I?ve read the posts. After the Indies went for Obama, didn?t object to the non-vetting process?they just wanted to be out of GWB?the fundamentally transform America was soothing to many people. The problem was?they didn?t know what this country was being transformed into. So..we have record unemployment, 1/2 the families on government assistance, fast & furious, Government Motors; Dodd Frank, Obamacare, Stimulus; Solyndra, the GPS company that could interfere with our defense, mega bucks on vacations while we went out of work, Blaming other people for his choices. I think you get the point and you could probably add a whole lot more. So?I ask??next time the election comes up?I?m going to look into the record?. ?I?m going to look for the proof?. I?m not going to let this happen again and I?m going to try to help others realize that we can?t afford to let an ?empty suit? lead us.

    So?Romney?Nope-Obama-Lite; Cain?Nope- he?s made some remarks that are not called for, i.e., Perry and Obama are alike; Newt ? He has some really good solutions?he has evidence?balanced the budget..held Clinton?s feet to the fire and left us with a surplus. He knows the in-outs of government?BUT?would he be a GOP Guy? Then here is Perry. I like Perry and right now?I will stay with Perry until he leaves?if he does. WHAT IS PERRY?S EVIDENCE?

    1. JOBS. Wow?that?s what our problem is.
    2. Against Abusive Regulation
    3. Passed Tort Reform ? Loser Pays
    4. Healthcare Plan in Texas now ? called Healthy Texas.
    5. Served in the Military
    6. No baggage as far as family problems.
    7. Wants MOST?I did say Most government back in the hands of
    the States?so that the people have more control of the govern-
    ment instead of the other way around.
    8. Wants Energy Independence
    9. Strong on BORDER SECURITY?Yes he is?check it out. Did
    not give Illegals driver?s license; did not grant sanctuary cities.
    Took out of the State budget what the FEDS are supposed to
    do?protect and secure the border.
    10. Wants the education system more in control of the States.
    11. Does not apologize For America
    12. Has the humility to admit when he was wrong (HPV)
    13. Can identify with the poor as well as the rich. His mother
    made his clothes. He is the American Dream.
    14. Shows conviction?in his beliefs and in his country.
    15. Wants to reform SS, leave those approaching SS and on it
    to stay and also allow options for younger people.
    16. Wants to reform Medicare ? means testing
    17. Believes in Peace Through Strength and wants our service-
    people home from Afghanistan/Iraq.

    Now?.the UNTRUTHS?or HALF TRUTHS.

    1. Yes, Perry was once Democratic?JUST LIKE REAGAN.. He
    did back Gore in 1988?when Gore ran on family values and
    the 2nd Amendment. Back then Southern Democrats were
    Conservative and Gore, being from Tennessee could only
    get on the ballot by ?acting? Conservative. Gore lost to DeKaukis (sp)?ANOTHER ROMNEY.
    2. Perry is a Bildenberger?Does anyone know what that organi-
    zation does? It is a stuffy bunch of influential people who ask
    people from ALL OVER THE WORLD to share their DIVERSE points of
    view. Perry?s appearance and subject?READY?State?s Rights
    and Energy Independence. Do you think they asked him back?
    I don?t.
    3. The Dream Act. Well?kinda?sorta?THE TEXAS DREAM ACT.
    Not the Federal Dream Act. So, if you are a child of an Illegal
    this can be a person working in Texas on a Green Card or VISA,
    the Federal Government requires that their children attend
    school. So, when those children graduate, if they, along with
    bordering states want to go to school, they can get in-state
    tuition. WHY?THAT?S NOT FAIR?I?M A CITIZEN. Are you sick
    and tired of pushing one for English?I am. The Legislature..
    along with Perry would rather have a person who has lived in
    Texas for three years and has applied for citizenship to
    graduate with a better chance of a higher salary?which benefits
    the states and their citizens. Besides..THEY PAY?NOT US.

    Now?we have an immigration problem?we have to solve it?
    it cannot be solved by us ignoring it. How do we get these
    people out of hiding to submit to identification and further?
    how do we stop companies from hiring illegals WITHOUT
    PAPERS? Going to have to be REQUIRED to carry a card,
    going to have to get in line to become a citizen, going to have
    to learn English. Deport the criminals?THEY GO BACK..
    THREE TIME offenders on misdemeanors ? YOU GO BACK.

    But let us not forget that we have no problem with the law
    concerning Cubans?dry land?they are citizens. Or, if people
    from Mexico join our Military?they get citizenship. So?we have
    to solve this?and the only way I can see this happening is by
    using a percentage per year.

    4. HPV Vaccine ? That?s why we have checks and balances however, let?s put some facts on the table?even for Ms. Bachmann. First??Innocent little girls? need to receive the vaccine before they become sexually active OR IT IS NOT EFFECTIVE. Go google it. Second?mandates cannot be mandates if they have an opt out. It?s an oxymoron?they can?t coexist. The Legislature turned it over?Perry admitted his mistake and I believe learned a lesson from it. Remember folks?Polio was all but a mandate with very little evidence that it would work?there was an opt out..and we don?t have Polio any longer. HPV is an epidemic in the USA and yes?you die from cancer and the treatment is for boys and girls?young boys and girls.
    Was his heart in the right place. I think so?.was his process?He says no. At least he did not write a book called No Apology.

    5. The Fed is ?almost? treasonous?. Well folks, like it or not, when your money is debased?and it is your money?not the governments?.it is treasonous?forget the almost.

    6. He would fire Bernanke?so would I.

    So?is Perry one of these people that clings to his Bible and Guns?probably. Is he ashamed of his God?Nope. To me?he?s as Conservative as they come. Oh you might not agree with the immigration business?but then?if you were governor of a border state..what would you do? Their parents are working in Texas LEGALLY?do you punish the child and let it become a migrant and then bi*ch because they can?t speak the language. You answer that?someone has to answer it?it has to be solved.

  • snowshooze

    She talked clear common sense in addressing Afghanistan and has the same outlook to endorsing another candidate..
    I am impressed.
    Best go look for yerselfs.
    I wrote her completely off after the Perry Rant.

  • tyman

    Carolynr,

    One thing about Perry’s “slide” in the polls is that I think it has galvanized his supporters.

    I think Perry is the man to beat, and he can fire up the base.

    McCain couldn’t, and even Romney’s supporters aren’t all in for him. Have you noticed this? I haven’t heard anybody that is as enthusiastic about Romney as we are for Perry.

  • snowshooze

    And dang it… well…
    That is the perfect answer. He is spot on.

  • http://www.doctor-bob.biz rsklaroff

    n/t

  • trutexan

    I’m recalling now my frustration at the Bush Admin for its lack of response on media attacks or twists of the truth. Each time something surfaced, Bush did nothing. He didn’t bite back, he didn’t fight, he just didn’t do…anything. Now the Perry camp seems to be taking the same tactic. In today’s day and age, this just won’t do. I completely agree he needs to nationalize vs. regionalize, but it would do him well to just be himself and shoot back from the hip as any good Texan should.

  • red_oakster

    It’s not about being the best debater. It’s about being competent to debate. It’s a necessary not a sufficient condition (as Gingrich’s laughable campaign proves).

    Perry debated horribly and his numbers fell through the floor. A presidential candidate who can’t articulate his message is in big trouble. He didn’t have to be the best. It was pass/fail and he failed miserably.

    Perhaps Perry can have a great evening next Tuesday and turn it all around. Otherwise, I think his implosion will continue. All the guy had to do was be mediocre and he couldn’t do it.

  • acat

    Debates are Lincoln/Douglas, or Nixon/JFK. These are, well, dog shows.

    That said, yes, Perry did a dreadful job of presenting his position. He must do better. As some of the chaff candidates are burned away, though, he’ll improve as he gets more time. Perry does better in longer-format interviews and as he gets more time, he should improve.

    He should also be able to dismantle Romney easily just by talking about their positions and asking which of Romney’s position statements currently applies.

    Mew

  • red_oakster

    nt

  • Jim Tomasik

    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/10/03/huckabee-raises-1-million/

    Huckabee was in a lesser spot both in the polls and in fundraising four years ago than Cain is now.

  • powertothepeople

    am I supposed to infer that somehow an unknown entity will do as well as a very well known public figure who already had a vast amount of supporters in place prior to running? Are you trying to say that the recent closure of one of his accounts (with a $17 balance) and his up until today failure to even compete in the fund raising arena will all come to an end just because Huckabee was able to continue to raise a decent amount of money 4 years ago?

    I really hope not.

    Without funds, no one can win and I do not care who they are. They could be on the top of the polls for most of the race and when the funds are gone, they are done. If they can not at least compete closely to the other candidates in market ad bombardment, they are finished. And that is the problem for Cain regardless of what a much better known and already a national figure did 4 years ago.

  • manny

    Erick wrote: “Evangelicals do not trust Mitt Romney because of his ongoing changing on fundamental social issues.” The only social issue he names is abortion. But it’s not just about abortion, though that is high on the list.
    MITT ROMNEY’S DECEPTION
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwwcAa6nHm4
    Mitt’s problem on abortion goes way beyond Ann contributing to PP. Romney facilitated $50 abortions under RomneyCare. The bill he signed included Planned Parenthood as a member of the ?payment policy advisory board? setting coverage guidelines. http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2006/Chapter58 and http://massresistance.org/docs/marriage/romney/health_ins/ Obviously, he could have vetoed Planned Parenthood?s inclusion. What did he expect PP would do on the advisory board? Insist on vitamin supplement coverage?
    As Governor, he actually promoted ?gay marriage? ? implementing it in violation of the Mass. Constitution, without legislative authorization. His Chief Legal Counsel carried out Mitt?s orders to enforce the new ?law? (actually, just the Court opinion). In 2010, the Mass. GLBT lobby publicly thanked the Legal Counsel for his support of the gay marriage ruling. http://kno?wthyneighb?or.blogs.c?om/home/20?10/09/mass?achusetts-?gay-lobby-?endorses-m?itt-romney?s-attorney?-for-state?-rep-seat.?html After all, Mitt had promised the Log Cabin Republicans during his 2002 campaign that he would not fight the expected Court ruling for gay marriage. And his Legal Counsel figured out how to keep that promise.
    Gov. Romney fully supported Kevin Jennings? ?gay? propaganda in the schools, with his ?Governor?s Commission on Gay & Lesbian Youth? and Dept. of Educ. ?Safe Schools? programs. He issued proclamations celebrating GLBT ?Youth Pride? events which brought adult GLBT activists together with young teens. In 2005, that event?s keynote speaker was a transgender communist activist (and editor of Workers? World). He failed to uphold the parents? rights law on sexuality issues in the schools.
    His Dept. of Social Services gave the “Parents of the Year” award to a homosexual couple. His DSS also indoctrinated thousands of their social workers to support “GLBT youth” with the radical Natl Gay & Lesbian Task Force leading the training. His Dept. of Public Health worked with ManHunt.net and published a poster (in school nurses’ offices, public transport, doctors’ offices) pushing the concept of “transgender health” and condemning “transphobia”.
    It will be an unprecedented disaster for conservatives and the country if he becomes the nominee.