The presidential campaign of Herman Cain is cause for concern for many members of the Republican Party. There is the fear by some that, even if Cain somehow wins the Republican nomination, he could not possibly win against President Obama. Others fear that in a contest against Obama, Cain might actually win. Such is the nature of the party.
Herman Cain would like to be the second black president in the White House. And some black Americans--maybe even Cain himself--would even welcome the chance to have what they consider a "real black man" there. Without giving Cain candidacy more credibility than it deserves, though, we must give him credit for having run well, thus far.
The idea has been floated that the Mitt Romney campaign encouraged his supporters to vote for Cain in the Florida straw vote, hoping a substantial Cain victory would create a ground swell of support for Cain, and, given the choice of Romney or Cain, conservative Republicans would choose Romney. And the fact that Republicans are using their control in state governments to pass legislation that suppresss opposition votes suggest they certainly would not be averse to using unscrupulous means to attain a politician advantage over each other.
But whatever is the political fate of Herman Cain--and regardless of why it has happened--he is currently making a serious run for the Republican nomination for the presidency. The main question concerning the viability of Cain's candidacy seems to be whether his intelligence and management skills can offset limited political skills and limited awareness of worldwide circumstances.
Cain is a conservative Republican. And the meaning of conservatism does not change just because the person espousing the ideology is black. The only difference between black and white conservatives is that one can be reasonably sure that black-conservative opposition to liberals has nothing to do with race.
Cain has said that black Americans have been brainwashed, and many black people have been offended by the comment. Some of that feeling may be due to the fact that there is some truth to it. Certainly, many black people vote based on a trust they have in black leaders who are advocates--often paid advocates--for the Democratic Party. By that definition white voters are similarly "brainwashed."
The leanings of Black Americans toward the Democratic Party began and evolved through the presidencies of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, which led to Civil Rights Laws in 1948. That confidence in the Democratic Party grew under the leadership of the Democratic Party during the 1960s, as black Americans demanded--and finally achieved--many rights due to us as American citizens.
The fact is, however, that black Americans don't know what they could have achieved had their votes not been pledged to Democrats. Black people never forced Democrats and Republicans to bid for their votes with promises of fairness. Both black voters are swing votes that perhaps could have force attention by both parties to the issues of social and economic justice. But present congressional Republican aren't even inspiring confidence among fellow Republicans.
Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan seems to have merits, not necessarily in the numbers but potentially in the concept or model The numbers may not be the right mix. Perhaps they should be 7-8-9, 5-10-15 or some other combination. The merits of the model would ultimately be evaluated in terms, not merely of its simplicity, but of its potential to lead to consensus on taxation and spending in a manner that grows the economy and reduces--and eventually eliminates--the number of people who are too poor to pay taxes. Such a simple plan would not necessarily, as is often claimed, eliminate Social Security and Medicare, as national safety nets. The core 9-9-9 plan--or whatever numbers it contains--would not become law as presented by Cain during the primary debates. It would be debated and amended by both houses of Congress before a presidential signature makes the plans law.
A political candidate cannot be liberal and conservative at the same time, as some black Americans think Cain should be, and which Mitt Romney is trying to shed the image of trying to be). When Cain says that Wall Street protesters should not blame Wall Street but themselves, which is the conservative message, he did not mean they should blame themselves for not blaming President Obama, which is also a conservative message. But he also did not mean those protesters who have done the right things but are victims of present economic conditions.
He did mean those who had not applied themselves sufficiently in school to prepare themselves for present and emerging job markets, and I would add those who were eligible but did not vote for Democrats during the 2010 elections. But Americans cannot help if we are in denial of the extents to which certain malfunctions exist within many American families and communities, and within the psychic of many Americans.
Conservative Americans who gave Republicans control over Congress in 2010 did not send them to Washington to govern the way they have so far--and they did not campaign that they would. The support of Herman Cain could just be a message to Republican members of Congress that constituents disapprove of their representatives representing Grover Norquist and not them. Many of them are sending a message to congressional Republicans about the 2012 election results unless they change their acts in Washington.
Cain justifies his 9-9-9 plan by contending that math suggesting it won't work is flawed and that opponents don't understand the plan because they are confusing apples with oranges. But distorting the truth and making people believe what is not true has been a recent Republican strategy. Why shouldn't Republicans try it on each other?
Meanwhile, the liberal media are criticizing Cain and his 9-9-9 plan as if they fear he could actually become president. Or maybe that's what they would like conservative Republicans to believe is the case. Anyway, he is being criticized more than--and including by--those who have no plan.
More importantly, though, a vote for Cain might help get money out of politics.
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