I know what I’m about to say is impolite, but Herman Cain strikes me as something of a jerk and an ignoramus. He has made absolutely outrageous statements about Muslims, immigrants and homosexuals; he takes the most extreme position imaginable on abortion. Indeed, I have never, ever seen him acknowledge the idea that complexity exists in the world…or that an ability to weed through complex issues might be a qualification for the presidency.
No, the guy is a marketer. He had other people handle administration and finance at Godfather’s; he was all about the pies. Hence, we have his 9-9-9 plan, a truly rancid scheme to benefit the rich at the expense of the rest of the country, a scheme that would tax a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread.
Would it be too much for the Weekly Standard–a journal of strong, and occasionally intemperate, opinions–to acknowledge that this guy is a snake oil salesman? That he’s an embarrassment to the Republican Party? That his momentary strength is a four-alarm cry of Republican desperation?
Exactly right. Thinking Republicans should be (and I suspect, are) embarrassed that at this stage of their primary, a simpleton with nothing more to offer than marketing slogans worthy of pizza joint flyers, is polling as well as he is. It says as much (or as little) about the intellect of the Republican base as it does about the reluctance of the party to throw their full support behind Mitt Romney. There is little doubt that Romney will end up being the Republican nominee but not before the GOP has exhausted every hope of finding a candidate who encompasses the entire package – solid conservative creds along with the intellect and ability to stand toe to toe with President Obama.
Cain has earned his conservative badge but is, as Klein put it, an ignoramus. Romney, on the other hand, has the desired smarts and experience but is sorely lacking in terms of convincing Republicans that he is a true conservative. Teabaggers have formed a PAC (The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama) which is so desperate to find a non-Romney candidate that they’ve put out a Romney attack ad.
Pretty damning stuff. You know Dems are going to be making use of that video next year.
At this point in the Republican primary, the front-runners are 1.) a pseudo-conservative flip-flopper who probably has a decent chance of defeating Barack Obama in 2012 should the economy continue to lag and 2.) a true conservative but moronic, snake oil salesman who has no chance of defeating the current president in a national election under any circumstances.
Meanwhile, the best qualified and most rational conservative among a field of dysfunctional clowns, Jon Huntsman, is polling at a measly 2% among Republicans. No further proof required to show that the Grand Old Party has become a decrepit joke.
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