Herman Cain jumps to top of GOP primary poll (beats Perry)

[scandal 951]

...and now they are pushing for Chris Christie to run for president. They obviously need a new front runner.

Christie won't run.

Sarah?

Giuliani?

[luckytxn 2,264]

Who is Herman Cain?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

What specifically, is there not to like about Cain?

Clearly, you have never had Godfather's pizza.

Who is Herman Cain?

I read somewhere that a book by Herman Cain under that same title will hit the market soon.

Sarah?

Giuliani?

[scandal 951]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20113616-503544.html

How far can Herman Cain go?

By Brian Montopoli

Does Herman Cain actually have a chance to win the Republican nomination?

There's no question that Cain, who was essentially unknown when he entered the presidential race, remains a serious long shot. But it's starting to look slightly more plausible that the former Godfather's Pizza CEO could actually become the Republican presidential nominee.

Cain earned a round of positive media coverage for his strong upset victory in the Florida straw poll last weekend, and he's getting traction with his 9-9-9 tax plan - a proposal to replace the current tax code with a nine percent flat income tax, a nine percent corporate tax and a nine percent national sales tax. When a moderator asked Cain about the plan at last week's Republican debate, the audience broke into applause even before he finished asking the question.

Now a Fox News poll shows Cain with 17 percent support - putting him just two points behind Rick Perry and six points behind Mitt Romney. It's just one poll, of course. But if it's accurate, it represents a near tripling in support for Cain from the previous Fox poll. And even if the poll is an outlier, it helps Cain with fundraising and means another round of glowing media coverage. (An endorsement from Fox News commentator Dennis Miller, meanwhile, can't hurt. )

Cain burst out of the gate with his performance in the first Republican presidential debate, which was strong enough that a Fox News focus group deemed Cain the clear winner. But he soon ran into trouble over controversial comments (perhaps most prominently, his statement that he wouldn't tap a Muslim to serve in his cabinet) and an unwillingness to offer specifics on foreign policy.

Cain spent the summer in the back of the GOP pack, polling well enough to earn a spot on debate stages but badly enough that the media treated him as a second- or third-tier candidate. His rivals, meanwhile, clearly did not see Cain as a threat and thus declined to take shots at him.

That will change if more polls show a surge in support for Cain. And that's not inconceivable: Gallup has found Cain has the highest positive intensity score of all the GOP candidates among those who know who he is. (Positive intensity is a measure of strongly favorable opinion vs. strongly unfavorable opinion.) Cain is known only by about half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents; if his positive intensity score holds up as he becomes more well known, he could give Romney and Perry a run for their money.

But money, as it were, is a problem: While Romney and Perry have a ton of it, Cain lacks the fundraising network of his better-known rivals. And that's not the only issue. Cain is competing with Perry, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum for social conservatives, and that means he needs to do respectably in Iowa, where they make up a major chunk of the GOP electorate. But Cain has little organization in the state - as evidenced by his fifth place finish in the Iowa straw poll - and some his staff in the state quit because they didn't think the campaign was putting in a serious effort.

A Cain campaign official acknowledged to CBS News that the candidate is unlikely to win Iowa. But the campaign hopes to survive the state - a third-place finish would be enough, though Cain has claimed he'd be "ecstatic" with fifth-place - and then hold on until South Carolina.

It's a state Cain's campaign believes the candidate can win -- and thus eventually get to the White House. Cain hails from nearby Georgia, where he hosted a radio show that could be heard across the border; the state is also 28 percent African-American and highly religious, which makes it demographically appealing for Cain, a Baptist minister. And the open primary means Democrats and independents who support Cain can cast ballots.

Still, there's a lot of distance between where Cain stands today and a victory in South Carolina, where he currently polls in the single digits. And Cain will likely not have the resources to match Perry or Romney's get-out-the-vote effort in the state. But there's no denying that Cain's candidacy suddenly seems a bit more viable - and no doubt that his rivals are starting to pay attention.

[Danno 1,228]

One of my concerns with can is -Can he govern?

His business eperience puts him over the top in someways but "politics" is like any other profession and I wonder if he can step into a political environment and have what it takes to accomplish things.

Even Obama had some experience in this regard yet.... with the house and senate on his team he failed to get so much accomplished (Thank God).

Can any history buffs here think of any other businessmen who went straight from business to the White House?

[lostinblue 1,989]

One of my concerns with can is -Can he govern?

His business eperience puts him over the top in someways but "politics" is like any other profession and I wonder if he can step into a political environment and have what it takes to accomplish things.

Even Obama had some experience in this regard yet.... with the house and senate on his team he failed to get so much accomplished (Thank God).

Can any history buffs here think of any other businessmen who went straight from business to the White House?

While many people know that Abraham Lincoln was also a lawyer, what they may not know is that he was most definitely an entrepreneur too, if not the most successful one. In 1833, Lincoln and William Berry opened a general store (with Lincoln going into debt to finance his share of the business.) The business failed a year later and Lincoln's possessions were seized by the sheriff. (Noteworthy: When his ex-partner Barry died shortly thereafter, Lincoln assumed Barry's debts too, even though he did not have to, and eventually paid them all off.) In addition

• Lincoln co-owned a law practice

• Lincoln created an invention and received a patent

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) was quite the entrepreneur. He bought a newspaper that was going out of business when he was only 19 (although he had to borrow his share of the $300 total paid.) Not long after, the paper, the Marion Star, became so successful that it earned income for Harding for the next several decades while he was off running for office.

In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt contracted polio and lost the use of his legs. After hearing about a boy who regained the use of his legs using a hydrotherapy treatment program in Warm Springs, Georgia, FDR worked to raise funds and turn the spa into a healing center for polio victims. The effort culminated in the creation of the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation.

Harry Truman (1945-1953) was famously a haberdasher before becoming president, but the truth is a little more interesting. After serving in World War I, Truman opened a clothing store in Kansas City, but after a successful run, the store fell on hard times and eventually went bankrupt.

Similarly, Jimmy Carter was known as "the peanut farmer from Georgia" but the truth is again far more interesting. After a stint in the Navy, Carter took over the family peanut farm yes, but it turned out that he was also a savvy businessperson and eventually grew that small farm into a multi-million dollar business that included warehouses, a peanut-shelling plant, and farm equipment supplies.

Upon his election to the presidency, Carter put the business in a trust, only to find he was almost broke once he left the White House four years later. Again his entrepreneurial skills helped when he turned things around again, becoming a best-selling author and speaker, founding the Carter Center, and becoming a millionaire in the process.

More recently, both President Bushes were entrepreneurs:

• Bush the elder started the Bush-Overby Oil Development company in 1951 and soon thereafter co-founded the Zapata Petroleum Corporation; a venture that later made him a millionaire.

• George W. Bush, while not nearly as successful as his father in the oil business, invested $800,000 in the Texas Rangers baseball team and later sold that share for $15 million.

So maybe it is not surprising that our presidents speak so often about small business – they know the joys, and sorrows, that come with it.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2010-02-15-presidents-and-small-business_N.htm

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I think it is about time we have a black President and he should be a Republican.