USA: Former pizza executive Herman Cain gains traction in race to become the Republican presidential nominee

Record ID: 347796

  • Title: USA: Former pizza executive Herman Cain gains traction in race to become the Republican presidential nominee
  • Date: 8th October 2011
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 7, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRADLEY BLAKEMAN, FORMER BUSH ADVISOR, SAYING: "I think he's plain talking. He's certainly somebody who resonates with the American people. Common sense, plain talk makes good public policy, good politics."
  • Embargoed: 23rd October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Politics,People
  • Reuters ID: LVABD8PHIJQI0CRCG6IJ9X3C1UMA
  • Story Text: After languishing on the margins of a crowded field of GOP presidential candidates, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain's unexpected surge in the 2012 presidential race took political observers and media pundits by surprise. But analysts say turning that boomlet into long-term and broad support will be a very difficult task for a novice candidate with no money and a relatively meager campaign organization.
    At a gathering of social conservatives in Washington D.C. on Friday (October 7), Cain, who has never held public office, acknowledged the doubts surrounding his candidacy, but said he was running for president because he was a "problem-solver."
    "The American dream is under attack, the American dream is under attack because we have become a nation of crises and that shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan talked about has started to slide down the side of the hill because of all these crises," Cain said, during his well-received speech at the Values Voter Summit.
    After a surprise win over leaders Rick Perry and Mitt Romney in a Florida Republican straw poll in September, Cain surged into third place in a national Fox News poll and earned lots of free publicity with a series of appearances on cable news shows.
    Almost overnight, Cain went from an afterthought to a legitimate voice in the 2012 race.
    But many analysts dismissed his straw poll win as more of a sign of unhappiness with the rest of the party's presidential field rather than an endorsement of Cain.
    Former advisor in the George. W. Bush administration Bradley Blakeman said Cain's lack of political experience would deter his chances of winning the GOP presidential nomination.
    "I think he's plain talking. He's certainly somebody who resonates with the American people," Blakeman acknowledged, but added that Cain "lacks in international affairs and trade and other important factors that are going to be important to the American people.
    "Certainly 2012 is about the economy, being president is much more about that," added Blakeman.
    Blakeman said he envisioned Cain not as a future U.S. president, but as Commerce Secretary in a Republican administration.
    "He would be amazing, the salesman of America. He could sell ice to the Eskimos. This guy is fantastic.That's the type of niche he would fill in a Republican administration," he said.
    While Perry and Romney have battled at the top of the presidential field, Cain lurked until last week in single digits in the bottom tier of the Republican race, largely unnoticed except during debates.
    But Perry has drawn conservative criticism for his views on immigration, and Romney has struggled to conquer conservative doubts about the healthcare overhaul he backed as governor of liberal Massachusetts.
    Cain, meanwhile, appeals to social conservatives and Tea Party activists with his blunt views on social issues and a "999" proposal to drastically rewrite tax laws to create a 9 percent business tax, 9 percent individual tax, and 9 percent national sales tax.
    At Friday's summit, Cain called his proposal a "bold solution" to an "economy on life support."
    "Those three taxes would replace the payroll tax, the capital gains tax, the death tax, the corporate income taxes, the personal income taxes, and it will save all of us collectively $430 billion a year that we spend to fill out the stupid tax code - 999," Cain said.
    Given his longshot status, Cain also has benefited from a lack of scrutiny of his more controversial pronouncements, including his refusal to appoint a Muslim to his Cabinet and his suggestion alligators could be positioned in a moat on the U.S. border with Mexico.
    To show long-term staying power in the race, analysts say Cain would have to prove he can raise more money and temper his controversial comments.
    "Cain needs organization, he needs fund-raising to get serious, beyond a straw poll which is nothing but a fund raising tool," Blakeman said.
    The Republican race for the right to face President Barack Obama in 2012 has seen several momentum changes already. Michele Bachmann had a short-lived boomlet after winning the Iowa straw poll in August, and Perry surged ahead of his rivals after entering the race last month only to drift back to the pack.
    Cain also said he would not endorse Perry, in part because of his policies on the Mexico border and immigration. Perry does not support building a border fence and has backed giving the children of illegal immigrants cheaper in-state tuition in Texas.
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