While it certainly isn’t time to anoint him as the presumptive Republican nominee, Herman Cain has enjoyed a jump in his poll numbers since the debate last week. It is still waaaayyyyy too early to even hazard a supposition as to who is going to run against Obama in 2012. Several candidates are still trying to get their message out (Romney), others have yet to join (Palin, Bachmann), and still others make a little noise then flame out badly (Trump, Gingrich).
I think if most of us could think back to early 2007 no one had a clue as to the nightmare that was on the horizon. Clinton was the clear front-runner with love-monkey Edwards in the mix. Obama was a barely recognizable junior Senator from the corrupt great state of Illinois who had about 10 days under his belt when he got bored with being “just” and Senator and thought he might give the whole running for president thingy a whirl.
But I do like Cain. He has made some interesting points while stating his positions. I especially like his fair tax idea (not new for anyone who cares to do a little research). He has some business smarts. But I think what I most like about him is his views on freedoms. He is an individual kind of guy who most likely thinks the greatest asset this country has is the people who live and work here. But there are a few questions I still need answered. He is at his core a Libertarian and there are few libertarian stances that give me pause. What is his stance on abortion? If he were willing to make abortion a state level issue, I think I could live with that. What about our overseas operations? Is he as isolationist as Paul? I don’t think being an isolationist is a good thing. We are still the top power in the world but if we step back someone will fill that role. Would it be China (not good) or would it be radical Islamist (even worse)?
The most difficult issue to overcome in the upcoming election is finding the right candidate. This is really an individual issue, but it does have implication for everyone. While trying to find the right candidate that meets our requirements, we still have to look at the bigger picture. Who can beat Obama? And that question is the nexus of the problem. For me personally, there are two who I feel best represents my beliefs. The first is Sarah Palin, but since is not running (yet!), I concentrate my info gathering on the other candidate, who happens to be Cain.
But could Cain beat Obama? Right now the answer is no. In the first place, it is difficult to unseat an incumbent President. It has happened only three times in the previous 100 years. Plus we still have to deal with Obama’s personal likability (Cult of personality). Despite economic troubles continuing and appearances of being in over his head, Obama remains a popular President. Who knows what will happen in the upcoming months. As I mentioned above, Obama wasn’t even making a dent at this point, yet he is now the President.
No comments:
Post a Comment