Hermain Cain for President in 2012!

When you are thinking about possible Republican Presidential contenders for 2012, don’t count out Herman Cain.  He is a highly successful businessman, having demonstrated leadership skills that enable him to turn failing companies around in a short period of time.  He is not a household name at this point in time, as are many of the other potential candidates, but once you hear him speak you will never forget him. 

I saw Herman Cain (AKA “The Hermanator”) recently on Fox News say that he was seriously thinking of running for president in 2012, so I decided to do some research on the man.  I had never heard of him before, but he has a very commanding presence and something about his comportment awed me though I knew nothing about him.  I quickly discovered that Mr. Cain (note: not McCain), an African-American, is a very successful businessman who rescued both the Burger King and Godfather’s pizza chains of restaurants from financial ruin.  

Herman is a man of principle and strong leadership skills.  Some have pointed out that if he were to become the Republican nominee, he would get many of the votes a white Republican gets and at the same time redirect some of the black votes.  And no one would dare call him a racist! On top of that, he doesn’t have the baggage some of the other candidates have.

Though Herman Cain has a tremendous amount of business and leadership experience, he does not have any political experience.  He did, however, run for the Senate in 2004.  He came in second out of three in the primary.  He says he didn’t start organizing his campaign soon enough. 

Some have compared him to Ronald Reagan while others point out that Reagan had already developed his political skills by serving two terms as governor of California.  But you could easily counter that argument by pointing out that Cain has had extensive business leadership experience.  In light of the current economic condition of the U.S., the business experience might prove more serviceable.  The man is undoubtedly extremely knowledgeable on the issues.  He is a gifted problem-solver and learns quickly.  If he surrounded himself with the right people and counsel, his vision could become unstoppable.

Despite his lack of experience, I think Herman would have an excellent chance to become President in 2012. He is a very articulate communicator—more so even than Barack Obama! His communication style is akin to that of Ronald Reagan—the man he is most often compared to. His voice and commanding presence capture his listeners. He is able to verbalize clearly the positions that the Republicans represent but often seem to have difficulty clarifying to the American people. And he doesn’t need a teleprompter to do it! He has a way of explaining the issues in a way that is both compelling and easy to understand. He is a gifted problem-solver and learns quickly. He would stand shoulders above Barack Obama in any debate.

Another thing Herman has going for him is the fact that the media is not as likely to beat up on him as much as they would beat up on a white Republican candidate because they wouldn’t want to risk being called “racists.”

Herman has been speaking at many tea party rallies around the country lately. And the mainstream media keeps trying to tell us that tea parties are racist and African Americans don’t go to tea parties.

He also spoke at the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans. There he told his listeners “there might be a dark horse candidate you don’t know about.” The crowd went wild as he walked off the stage.

Herman has a weekly radio show on WSB radio in Atlanta. You can also download his free podcasts from Itunes. His website is www.hermancain.com. He is also a regular writer for Townhall.

 Those he is not yet widely known in political circles, Herman has a resume any politician would envy.  He has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Morehouse College and a master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University.  After graduation, he was employed as a Mathematician for the Navy and then as a business analyst for Coca-Cola.  At age 31, he started working for Pillsbury.  Within three years, he was appointed Vice President of Corporate Systems and Services. 

 In 1982, he switched to the Burger King division of the Pillsbury Company.  Within nine months he was managing 400 Burger King Restaurants in the Philadelphia area.  This region of the company was the lowest performer until Herman took over.  Within three years, his region ranked first. 

 In 1986, Herman was chosen president of the failing Godfather’s Pizza chain.  The owners did not expect the chain to return to profitability but in 14 months, the chain was back in the black.  In this position as president of Godfather’s, he began accepting various speaking engagements.

He has also served as chairman of the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1992 to 1996 and also chairman of the board for the National Restaurant Association.

Herman and his wife Gloria have been married for over 40 years and they have two grown children and two grandchildren. He is passionate about music and golf. He is also a strong man of faith and serves as associate pastor of Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta.

He has a very common-sense conservative approach to government—he is any conservative’s “dream” candidate. He is a solid conservative both fiscally and socially. Herman unabashedly rails against Barrack Obama’s style of politics. His positions on all the issues are 180 degrees opposite of the current President.

He says he is a conservative first, a Republican second. He believes in less government, lower taxes, and more individual responsibility. He says the government needs to restructure all of the different social programs that are supposed to help people but instead they make people dependent. He says we need to design programs where people are helped to help themselves so they don’t get hooked on government programs and view these programs as entitlements.

Herman would love to do away with the IRS and replacing the cumbersome tax code with the fair tax. As a strong proponent of the fair tax, he says if all American’s were educated on it instead of believing the distortions about it in the mainstream media, the revenue needs of the federal government would be more than taken care of. See my hub Herman Cain’s A B C's of the Fair Tax.

Regarding social security, Herman says the present system is doomed to fail unless it is revamped. He explains that Chile is a perfect example of a successful social security system worth emulating. A few decades ago they had a system like the one in the U. S. that was failing miserably. They switched to a personalized system in which each workers contributions were placed in a separate accounts. He says 90% of the workers in Chile have more money in retirement than most American workers.

Herman believes in the movement to do away with pork so members of congress can’t keep bribing their constituency. He says many members of congress have a habit of sending enough pork projects homes to keep the constituent groups happy and make them feel obligated to keep re-electing them. He says this is the reason Barney Frank got reelected in spite of the housing tumble due to poor oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of which he was the committee chairman.

Herman says he’s a big proponent of facts, logic and common sense. He says liberals selectively bring up race when they cannot defend a bad policy on facts and logic. They selectively produce an isolated fact, but never all the facts.

They Think You’re Stupid:  Why Democrats Lost Your Vote and What Republicans Must Do to Keep It (2005)

Leadership is Common Sense (2000)

CEO of Self:  You Are in Charge (2001)

Speak as a Leader (1999)

Herman has some catchy phrases that he uses over and over that register and stick with his followers:

“The four D's that get an economy in trouble: debt, dependency, devaluation and default”

“America does not lack the skill to solve its problems; it lacks the will and the leadership.”

“We have our voices, our votes and our valuables (time and money) to take back our government.”

“We have to remember in November.”  (November 2010 is past, but there will be more Novembers)

“Stay connected, stay informed, stay inspired.”

“We cannot spend our way to prosperity.” (So there, Mr. Keynes—go ahead, roll over in your grave)

The roll of the government is to insure equal opportunity—not equal outcome.

“I’m Baptist born and Baptist bred, and I’ll be a Baptist ‘til I’m dead.”

Herman refers to Health Care Reform as “Health Care Deform”

Likewise, he refers to the Wall Street Financial Reform as “Wall Street Financial Deform”

He quotes Thomas Jefferson frequently:  “When people have the right information, they will make the right decision.”