Sunday, October 16, 2011

Time for a second look at Cain

So far, I've been lulled by what I thought was Cain's unelectability and the surety that the GOP power brokers would derail his nomination. Besides, he had no fund-raising or organizational structures in place.

Nevertheless, he has proved to be a crowd-pleasing populist, and his standing in the polls has not only surged once, but now he's had a second surge and is running first in some polls. It's hard to continue calling him the "flavor of the week."

Now we learn that the billionaire, ultra-conservative, Tea Party backing Koch brothers are giving him a major financial boost.

And he's now being asked about his foreign policy ideas. He has experience in business and in communications and in banking. But none at all in foreign policy.

So today on "Meet the Press," he was asked who has shaped his views on foreign policy. He named three: John Bolton, Henry Kissinger, and KT McFarland.

John Bolton is the gadfly "bomb Iran" guy given a recess appointment as UN Ambassador, despite his outspoken anti-UN sentiments. As a diplomat, he had the skills of a bull in a china shop. That would be a disaster.

Kissinger is not quite insane, and he did some good things as Nixon's Sec. of Defense, but he's also a war hawk and a devious manipulator, in my opinion.

McFarland was a Kissinger aide and rose in the ranks of civilian appointees in Reagan's Defense Department; she is now a news analyst for Fox.

Combine these influences with Cain's lack of experience, and we could have a global disaster with him as president.

But he comes across as very real, open, honest, and a populist outsider ready to take on Washington. He's likeable and he does good sound bites ( 9-9-9). Crowds love him. He even sings with a powerful baritone voice to entertain the crowd, as he did when the microphone went dead at a recent rally.

The situation is like with the others (Trump, Paul, Palin, Bachmann, Santorum, Perry) who might be easier than Romney for Obama to defeat -- but they carry such a high risk in the "what-if" scenarios of an even worsening jobs situation or a terrorist attack in the U.S. Then the gamble would be lost.

OK. Back to Romney, despite his probably being the most electable of the GOP field.

Ralph

2 comments:

  1. It turns out that Cain's connection with the Koch brothers goes deeper than cash.

    In 2005, he went around the country promoting the Americans for Prosperity foundation that the K0ch brother fund, helping to set up local groups of the foundation. Obviously to promote business friendly policies.

    So it's not just that they started giving him campaign donations; he has deep roots in their organization.

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  2. Someone has figured that under Cain's 9-9-9 plan, Warren Buffet might end up owing no income tax at all. Capital gains tax would be eliminated; and Buffet's 9% tax on other income would likely be offset by his charitable contributions, which Cain's plan preserves.

    So there !!!

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