In the past few days, Herman Cain has been taking heavy duty flack both here (from Alana and Pete) and elsewhere over comments he made during an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan in which he completely contradicted himself on abortion. His simultaneous defense of “choice” and a “pro-life” position enraged pro-life activists. It’s also given the rest of the public good reason to doubt Cain’s capacity to understand the issues.
But what’s really interesting about this is how this latest embarrassment for Cain illustrates the heightened scrutiny he’s been receiving since his poll numbers rose when compared to the indifference with which his comments were greeted when he was just a curiosity. As it happens, Cain made the exact same mistake back in July when he appeared on Fox Business Channel’s John Stossel Show. It’s one thing to claim to be both pro-choice and pro-life once. To say the same thing months later demonstrates not only that he doesn’t understand the issue but also that he is not particularly educable.
