Now that Herman Cain has won the Florida straw poll and is picking up points in the polls, people want to know, just who is Herman Cain? Here is a little background and some quick answers on his stated beliefs.
Experience
Herman Cain has been a very successful businessman, including working for Pillsbury and turning around failing business units into very well performing ones. He is most well known for being the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. He is on the board of several companies and has also been a talk show host. He has no political experience.
Terrorism
Said he would take on the Muslim brotherhood. He is in favor of advanced interrogation techniques. Cain has made it clear he will go after terrorists and terror supporting organizations.
Taxes
Cain has his 999 plan. This calls for removing the current tax structure and having a 9% sales, business and income tax. When asked in one of the debates if another politician could come in later and add on more taxes to those taxes, he said it wasn‘t possible. This seems a bit naïve but on the other hand, anyone can always try to undo what a previous president has done.
Abortion
Says he is pro life but in a past interview also said in a confusing way that the government shouldn’t decide if a woman gets an abortion or not.
Energy
Would remove some government regulation and supports more oil and coal development.
Wars
Cain has said he will not comment on a plan for Afghanistan until he is president and can see all the intelligence. He opposed Obama’s drawdown of troops in Iraq
Gay Marriage
Says he stands for traditional marriage but that gay marriage is a states rights issue.
Health care
Said he couldn’t not support Mitt Romney because he doesn’t think Romney would repeal ObamaCare.
Herman Cain acts like a conservative in a lot of ways but often when asked about an issue he gives cryptic answers. Part of the reason for this could be that he knows that the news media often twist and turn what you say into something else. Also, it is likely he wants to not make some of his views into sound-bytes used against him. However, in the time we live in, we need politicians who will give a straight answer and stand up for what they believe.
Herman Cain says he’s a social conservative but believes the economy and energy are much more important issues. But if you believe abortion is infanticide and is killing millions, can you really say that our energy policy is more important? If you really think marriage is between a man and a woman and that gay marriage is destroying a basic fabric of our society, can you say that it’s a states rights issue? It’s easy for conservatives to try and avoid issues by claiming states rights. But the states don’t have some rights.
The constitution gives us the right to life, the state doesn’t have the right to allow abortion. Herman Cain doesn’t seem to argue this but many libertarians such as Ron Paul probably would. Libertarians want to leave everything to the state, including some things that are not part of states rights. So is Herman Cain a libertarian? If so you’d be better off with Ron Paul if you want someone with those views.
If Herman Cain wants to win votes and win people, he has to be clear and let the chips fall where they may. He can’t just say I support the second amendment or I’m pro life. There are plenty of liberals who will make such statements and mean something completely different
Comments