The ups and downs of Herman Cain’s campaign for the presidency

Commentary by James H. Shott


Editor's Note: This column was written for a daily newspaper and was filed a few hours prior to the public statement of Sharon Bialek accusing Herman Cain of inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances, and therefore is based upon the circumstances existing before those accusations were made public.

The circumstances surrounding these new charges are still developing, and these charges are disputed by Mr. Cain.

We will see what develops as time passes.


Herman Cain, one of several candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, is an interesting political character. Mr. Cain has achieved the American dream, rising from humble beginnings as the son of a domestic worker mother and a father who worked as a janitor and chauffer. After that modest start he has achieved great success, working as a civilian mathematician for the U.S. Navy, chosen as CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. He also has been a syndicated columnist and radio host.

As a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination who has never held elective office, Mr. Cain rose from relative obscurity to sit atop Republican polls ahead of better-known candidates like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachman, and Rick Perry, all of whom are experienced in the fine art of politics.

Despite the large number of Americans upset with careerism in politics, that rare individual who dares to enter national politics without first paying dues or learning the ropes in some lower office is often the object of disdain.

However, Mr. Cain’s lack of political experience is one thing people like about him. A frequent complaint about American politics focuses on how many elected officials make a career of holding elective office, many spending decades in elected positions, and more than a few tending to focus on being re-elected more than on serving the people who put them in office.

Another thing they like is his clear thinking, learned as a successful businessman running a large corporation, which also taught him to identify problems and cut through the fog to find practical solutions to them.

Whether it is Mr. Cain’s experience in the private sector rather than in government, or his no-nonsense approach to problems, the Republican rank and file seems to like it, and that has the other Republican candidates on edge. It also has gotten the Democrats’ attention, and the way they have reacted tells us just how nervous they are.

“I can’t imagine that he wasn’t given a hand—whether it was through state policy or affirmative action,” says Stacey Abrams, the Democratic leader of the Georgia House, downplaying Mr. Cain’s success. Harry Belafonte, who was a popular calypso singer forty years ago, said on the Joy Behar show that Mr. Cain was a “bad apple,” a “false Negro,” someone “denied intelligence,” and then praised Fidel Castro as a supporter of democracy and people’s rights.

And then there is the week-old story of 12 year-old sexual harassment allegations by former employees of the restaurant association.

As things stand now, this story is an indictment of the news media more than of Mr. Cain. The lack of detail and real information in this story is breath-taking; a textbook case of what not to do in journalism, but it is nonetheless being used by Democrats and the media to attempt to destroy a political enemy.

First published by the left-wing news organization Politico as a story of a formal complaint filed with the restaurant association, the story was based on anonymous sources and furnished virtually no detail. Cases of this nature involve confidentiality provisions that protect the parties, so information about the claims is not available. Responsible journalists would not have published a story with so little factual information available, and it is shoddy journalism like this that produced the terms “lame-stream media” and “drive-by media.”

Then there are the allegations themselves, which may represent actual cases of sexual harassment, or they may not. Right now no one really knows. An allegation is just an allegation, and settlement agreements keep the details of the claims private.

But even a settled claim does not mean that sexual harassment occurred. Any attorney can tell you that legal settlements result because settling is frequently less expensive than the cost of going to court, and amounts of $35,000 to $45,000 are considered “nuisance value.”

Sexual harassment is a very real problem, but not every charge is true sexual harassment. A female employee may complain that a male co-worker stood too close to her and made her feel “uncomfortable.” But just because she was uncomfortable doesn’t mean she was “harassed.” A casual comment intended as a compliment can be misinterpreted, and a harassment charge may result. The definition is foggy, but the legal standard is that the alleged conduct be “severe or pervasive.”

Mr. Cain, who denies that he has ever harassed anyone, handled this situation very poorly, perhaps due to his lack of political experience. However, under the standards of American justice he is innocent until proven guilty. Until some actual proof of true sexual harassment comes out, this firestorm is a tempest in a tea pot, and is best ignored by everyone.

Whether Herman Cain is the best of the Republican candidates will be determined over the next several months. He has some very good ideas, a refreshing non-political perspective, and the insight of a successful private sector performer.

If he does not prevail in the nomination process it must not be because of this shameful journalistic misadventure.

Cross-posted from Observations

Raising Cain!

Raising Cain!

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Surprise, surprise!  Herman Cain has risen to at least a tie for the number one slot amongst the candidates for the GOP nomination for President.  It seems everyone is surprised – but Herman Cain.

So – what the heck is going on here? 

Here’s what I THINK is happening:

REAL conservatives within the republican ranks are in near rebellion.  They actually LIKE Herman Cain and they actually LIKE his platform.  But that is only a part of the story here… in my opinion.

Conservative republicans have made no secret of the fact that they do not want Romney as the GOP candidate for President.  That puts them at direct odds with the GOP and the RNC.

See, Romney was supposed to be the GOP candidate this time round.  I the time honored fashion of the Republican Party, it is Romney’s turn.  Never mind that he has very little chance of actually beating Obama in a head to head race for the Oval Office, the GOP made its decision that Romney would be the candidate long ago.  They made a very serious mistake.  They didn’t ask the grassroots conservatives in the parry how they felt about it.  Had they done so, the republican field of candidates would be very different than it is today.

I catch a lot of flak concerning my insistence that Obama stands a better than even chance of winning four more years in the Presidency.  In fact, I believe there is every reason to believe that he WILL win another term even with all the problems the country has today… many of which can be traced directly to his inadequacy as a leader on the national and international stage.

Never, ever, underestimate the democrat’s election machine and their willingness to do whatever it takes to win an election.  I am seriously afraid the GOP is making that mistake in the2012 election and, as a result, may find themselves waiting four more years for a shot at the Presidency.

Now.  The grassroots conservatives do not like Mr. Romney’s politics.  He is far too liberal a candidate for tastes.  (Please.  Do not try to convince me that Romney is a conservative.  History is on my side.) 

Mr. Romney is a pure politician who will trim his sails for the prevailing political winds.  He will continue to tack, either side of the wind, to get to his destination.  Just as a seasoned sailor can tack either side of the wind to take their vessel just about anywhere they want, regardless of the winds direction, Mr. Romney has a past record of just such maneuvering.  Conservatives don’t like that.  They REALLY don’t like it.  And southern conservatives like it even less.

So, what to do?  Support a so-called second tier candidate, a candidate they actually like to begin with, but has very little chance of achieving the anointment of the GOP.  Walla!  Herman Cain.

I am a born and bred southerner.  I eat, sleep, and breathe southern.  As such, I can tell you today, that I would not be surprised if Herman Cain swept the primaries in the southern states. 

Why would conservatives vote for another inexperienced black man for president?   The answer is simple … Mr. Cain strikes them as an honest, no bull, honorable man.  Cain has held fast to his principles and has impressed conservatives with his forthright answers to the media’s questions, and (and this is VERY important) he has the ability to lift the spirits of conservatives and inspire that “can do” spirit that made this country great in the first place.  Southern conservatives are drawn to his gracious southern charisma. And … contrary to what the liberal press, the democrats, and Hollywood would have you believe -- the southern people are no more racist than any other Americans. 

Now.  Having said all of the above … this is a very fluid campaign season among republicans because we have been asked, again, to support a candidate we don’t like.  We are tired of “settling” for a candidate and we would really like for once in a very long while to be able to endorse, and support our republican candidate will all the enthusiasm and energy we have not been able to commit to ca candidate since Ronald Reagan.

Now we wait for establishment republicans to undermine the Cain campaign and make sure Romney regains the top spot in the polls.   You can be sure the heat will be on Mr. Cain and it will increase in intensity in the immediate future.

That calls for a warning to the Romney campaign.  Whether conservatives go to the polls and cast a ballot in November or stay at home disgusted, may very well depend upon the Romney campaign’s efforts to discredit and/or destroy Herman Cain’s campaign.

I say, again:  If Romney is the GOP nominee, there is a very good chance that Obama will be returned to the Oval Office for four more years.  Frankly, I’m not at all certain America can survive another Obama term in office.

  

J. D. Longstreet