Herman Cain’s presidential campaign came to an unceremonious conclusion yesterday, leaving some of his last-ditch supporters blaming the media for his demise. Defiant and bombastic to the end, he exited denying the accusations of personal misbehavior that had sunk him while claiming politics is a “dirty game.”
But the conclusion to his attempt to win the White House actually illustrated that for all of its seeming irrationality and foolishness, the process by which we elect presidents isn’t so crazy after all. Cain’s inability to survive the scrutiny that must accompany such lofty ambitions proves that at least in this instance, the system worked.
In the coming days, his former rivals who understandably hope to win the votes of some of his supporters will extravagantly praise Cain. But let’s not be fooled by the talk of Cain’s “courage” and “boldness” or the idea there was something praiseworthy about having a person with no experience in government parachute into the Oval Office.
That a man who was so bereft of knowledge of important issues and clearly lacking the ability to defend his poorly thought out positions was treated as a serious contender even for a few weeks must be considered an impressive achievement. But it is a consoling thought that, at least in this instance, the manner in which we choose presidential nominees is sufficiently rigorous that a Herman Cain could not make it to the Iowa caucuses before being revealed as an unsavory character who did not deserve the attention we showered upon him the last six months.
The most interesting thing about Cain was not his personal foibles, his simplistic tax plan or even his astounding ignorance of foreign policy that grew to comical proportions as the campaign went on. Rather, it was his arrogance. While it must be conceded that anyone who even thinks of running for the presidency must be possessed of a very healthy ego, it takes a special kind of arrogance to think yourself ready for the White House even though you know nothing about a host of important issues and are carrying around personal baggage bound to be revealed.
His rise was the result of a long summer and fall of debates during which his unflappable charm was highlighted. It was also testimony to the contempt in which most voters hold career politicians these days that they were momentarily seduced by the idea a businessman could run the country better than one of them. Of course, as most of us learned when his long tenure at the National Restaurant Association became newsworthy, he spent as much time as a Washington lobbyist as he did as an entrepreneur. But the mere fact that he had never held elective office was treated as a virtue rather than a defect.
But there are reasons why only those who have tried and succeeded at politics are generally considered worthy of consideration for the presidency. One is that as much as Republicans rightly value the private sector over the public, experience in running a government of some kind is not the same thing as operating a business. Another is that running for office is good training for the rigors of the presidency. It also provides a rough and often imperfect vetting process.
In an earlier era, someone like Cain would not have been treated as a serious candidate for the presidency for even a moment, because the political parties vetted candidates themselves. We need not mourn the death of the proverbial smoke-filled room in which party bosses played kingmakers to understand such doings were likely to filter out a buffoon like Cain. The weakness of contemporary party structures means this role must now be played by the media. That is a problematic formulation that often gives too much power to journalists who are often biased and as capable of being seduced by a public relations phenomenon as anyone else. The failure of the press to air Barack Obama’s flaws, which though different from Cain’s were just as glaring, is an example of how this system can spectacularly fail.
But rather than blame the media for Cain’s fall, we should be congratulating it. It says something not very flattering about Republicans that so many of them were so desperate for a fresh conservative face they actually thought it was not insane to hand the reins of power to a person who was a foreign policy ignoramus and who didn’t know the difference between “pro-life” and “choice” when it came to abortion.
His collapse was the result of a combination of factors, but it is a small victory for rationality that by the time Cain withdrew, most Republicans understood it was impossible to envision him as a commander-in-chief. While Herman Cain is surely not the last unqualified person to have a chance to win the presidency, let us at least be thankful this farce is now concluded.
Jonathan, Cain wasn't right nor ready, but I am struck by your own anger and mean spirit. This post is nothing but an 834 word "I Told You So." How 'bout some humility, eh? "Buffoon"? Come on, you can speak and write better.
My "twirling" thoughts. nStill troubling that serial-excuser Cain's "America wants a leader, not a reader" was considered a virtue by his supporters. nNot looking forward to ongoing media over-coverage of whether Mr. Cain will get his dream job as SecDef. nIronic that Uzbekistan's rail line, used for NATO supply to Afghanistan, was just blown up. nMr. Cain should have poked fun at Lithuania, not Uzbekistan.
Twirling away … something is awry with the GOP base–still a lot of know-nothing anti-intellectual faux populism out there. Yah, America needs MORE illiteracy…
Mr. Tobin, the arrogance of your piece is startling. You can certainly make your points about whether Cain was ready to run for President without stooping to Left Wing Media ridicule. No need to kick the man when he is down. One need not be a Cain supporter to abhor the tone of your piece. Maybe you need some time off or some therapy. n nDid you give Obama anything like the same treatment? He was no more ready for the White House than Cain, and, perhaps even less so. Somehow I doubt you would call Obama a "buffoon," notwithstanding the endless litany of gaffes and ignorant statements Obama has uttered since 2008. n nOnly if you consider that the "system" works when it makes s–t up about people to ruin their reputations can you say that it worked in this instance. In truth, the System works only one way: when a conservative runs for office it is a non-stop attack machine without any circumspection whatsoever. When a Leftist runs for office, it is a pandering instrument of cover-ups and puff pieces. You should know this only too well with the treatment that Israel routinely gets: non-stop distortions and lies that only, ever work to destroy. n nYou can certainly note with favor that Cain is dropping out without applauding the System that behaved so abominably in this regard.
a dictionary of words can be used to describe Obama, but "buffoon" is not one of them. nI use "condescending postmodern, transnational, multiculturalist" or "shapeshifting Chicago pol" to describe Obama. n n"buffoon ( ) n. A clown; a jester: a court buffoon. A person given to clowning and joking. A ludicrous or bumbling person; a fool. " nMr. Cain gave ample evidence of those traits, without any media filter. THAT is what doomed his not-candidacy, but the entire media has been so damned for being racist if anyone criticizes Obama, that Mr. Cain used the same defense to deflect actual criticism of his shallowness on every issue, and bad jokes.
I guess I failed to see ample evidence of Mr. Cain playing the part of a buffoon. If you were to engage in a careful analysis of the way Obama has presented himself as POTUS I think that you could certainly conclude that some of his gaffes fit into that category. How about the time someone loaded the wrong speech into the teleprompter and Obama thanked himself for inviting himself to the WH. Or the 57 state deal, which is in the stratosphere serious. But, no one seems to really care. But, this Cain guy, let me tell you …
Oh please. The man is a buffoon and a total ignoramus — and likely an adulterer too. The only offense of conservative journalists, pundits, commentators and politicians was that they pulled punches and downplayed criticism of a candidacy that was a lame joke n n
um, unfortunately by the internal and unbelievable contradictions of his various excu…explanations, Cain's private life was a vulnerability. Nobody made up a 13 year relationship with someone his wife knew nothing about…and the exc..explanation that the latest woman was paid tons of money by nefarious Chicago pols or somebody paints him as a cold-blooded cynical manipulator.
Apparently Obama's private life is then an asset. Does anyone know anything about the history of this man????
Well, O's private life isn't parading itself on the TV with cell phone and bank records Mrs. O. doesn't know anything about.
The reason O's private life is being paraded on the TV is 1) Obama's first executive order, signed very shortly after he was sworn in was to have all of his records sealed. Numerous individuals have been attempting to find out answers to certain questions and road blocks are everywhere. And, 2) the MSM is providing cover for him. He was not vetted to any extent. Why did not the MSM report on an interview with his supervisor at the Chicago law firm where he was described as someone who was unable to grasp the big picture of his cases, where he always was more than willing to turn them over to a colleague, and where he billed for an average of 17 hours per week over the four years that he worked at the law firm. So, you answer the question. Why were not these reported facts paraded on the TV?
Richard, because these are rumors not facts. And people have not come forward and either given their stories authoritiatively, and certainly, as the woman who sunk Cain's campaign, did, on camera and on record, to, say Fox News or Rush or Sean or Mark Levine. Do you have a source for these stories outside second- and third-hand we-heard-they-said statements on blogs? We KNOW OBAMA'S WORK STYLE FROM HIS PRESIDENCY–I'd guess it is closer to 40 hours than 17. n nI seriously seriously serously doubt, that any human being, with whatever good, clean, articulate cheekbones he may have, would hand in 17 hours of billing without being fired, unless they were bringing in money some other way. n n
"His collapse was the result of a combination of factors, but it is a small victory for rationality that by the time Cain withdrew, most Republicans understood it was impossible to envision him as a commander-in-chief." n nIf this is true, and I'm not saying it's not, then Republican primary voters/caucus goers would have declined to vote for him. That would be the system working. n nMr. Tobin displays the same elitist snobbery towards Herman Cain as he does towards Sara Palin.
What scrutiny was Obama ever subjected to? Absolutely none as far as I can see. And the man has been in office for 3 years. And frankly, I prefer an adulterer (which we have no idea if Cain is) to a man who is close friends and shares ideology with Marxists and Communists. Which is an accurate description of Barack Obama.
So when are you liars and media pimps going to turn your tactics on Jughead Obama?
Gee, do ya think that maybe the media and the process failed when it came to that morally absent John Edwards…….Nope- because he was a democrat liberal like you!
Too bad that he did not have the MSM covering for him as they did for Clinton. And, geeeezzzzz, they carried the water for one other black guy whose claim to fame was registering voters. Hey, let's all get behind someone who doesn't have a clue. Maybe birds of a feather do flock together. The fact that Cain is accomplished in a number of areas was probably not to his advantage. Very few stupid people earn degrees in math and computer science, work as a rocket scientist, and then address significant business problems and come up with successful, tangible solutions and outcomes. Nah, let's listen to the commentators who say that Cain was just not up to the job, while ignoring the current guy in the WH who seems to be more interested in free government housing and its perks, shooting hoops and playing golf. He does not have a clue as to what is going on, or how to fix our problems, much less know how to govern. Yep, that'll all work out.
Rocket scientist? Wealllll, in the same way Carter was a nuclear physicist. He was a ballistics analyst–yes, he had applied mathematical statistics and financial experience to his credit, brought back a pizza franchise to health, knew something about marketing, and, yes, was a restaurant lobbyist. Amazingly he managed to come off as a smug con more adept at milking a niche political market rather than as an all around savant ready to leap in and save America's pepperoni–and with his bimbo eruptionlet he came off as a prevaricating mountebank. n nBut hey, we have Newt in the wings so at least there's an idiot savant out there. n nSo, O's a detached left-wing elitist–that doesn't mean voters have to give every GOP wannabe the same pass the media gave our Prez.
Please, Besht, let's not conflate the hypocritical treatment that the Left Wing Media gives to conservatives vis a vis Leftists with the shortcomings of an otherwise earnest candidate. n nOn what basis to you claim that Cain was anything other than a flawed but well-meaning candidate? How do you support the charge that he was a "smug con" ? Or is that just your personal reaction? If so, you were in the minority as many conservatives found Cain a refreshing change to the usual finger-to-the-wind politics of D.C. establishment types like Romney and Gingrich. n nNo one here (or elsewhere from what I've read) gave Cain the "same pass the media gave" Obama. If that were the case, then you would have everyone circling the wagons around Cain about this latest revelation and making excuses for inexcusable behavior. No one is doing that. But neither should conservatives fall prey to the easy lies and contrived politics of destruction honed to perfection by the Left and the Leftist Media. The first three accusers were all rightly suspect and debunked. Conservatives rightly held their misgivings for further proof. This last one, however, was all too credible, unfortunately. n nGetting back to Tobin's piece, he could have at least thrown a bone to Cain in the sense that Cain had the courage– the chutzpah, if you will– to run for President as a black conservative in the GOP, knowing full well that he would be subjected to remorseless double-standards and withering scrutiny. He handled himself pretty well for a political novice in the face of some pretty scurrilous interviews and attacks. And whatever you may think of his 9-9-9 plan, it did manage to get everyone thinking in radical, new ways about tax code reform which is desperately needed. n nBut for you and others, it's just so much easier to sling around epithets and insults. No wonder better candidates decided to wait this one out.
Cain's candidacy strikes me, in hindsight, as an ego trip designed to give him publicity and burnish a personal brand regardless as to its eventual success. n nMyself, I am not a conservative but a "neocon" with some respect for what government can do balanced by a fear of what it can do poorly and for ill. I don't think that slashing taxes OR running deficits are magic beans to solving economic problems that are rooted in Lord knows how many factors, macro economic constraints, micro economic peculiarities, and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and fallen men. n nThe tax code grew by accretion and by and large, for all its distortions, at least business persons, the government bureaucracy, and tax professionals are used to it. I shop at a small bogada type market on the ground floor of our apartment. It is owned by an accountant who prepares personal and business income taxes who originally lived in West Africa and came here seeking a better life about 20 years ago. n nWhen I first asked him a couple of months or so ago about "9-9-9" he laughed in my face. n n"Don't pay attention to these politicians," he warned me. "He will never be President and this will never happen." n nI am far from convinced that it is a "conservative" position, if it should come to that, to engage in radical tex reform including instituting VAT taxes under a different name. n nPlus, as has been noted, he didn't seem too clear himself as to the details or even who wrote it, and began amending it nearly as soon as it was publicized. n nBut, personally, I gave him the benefit of the doubt until he began to desperately prevaricate in public. n nHis first accusers were not "anonymous"–Cain had encountered them in prior legal action that he had warned his firat advisors about in his Senatorial race. But he threw up a smoke screen as if he didn't know who they were. Well he did. And he was tap dancing. That means a lot to me as just a guy out here who has the right to vote. n nI don't like to be fed hokum by a politician as if I'm a yokel. n nPermit me please to make this one point. n nHe lied and he's lying now. When last heard from he was still denying that the last woman had a credible tale to tell. No no no no, she was just some sad sack nutter who has been paid oodles and oodles of money to tell a slur against this upright man who just happened out of the goodness of his heart to pay her monthly bills and call her in the wee hours of the morning. He would get to the bottom of this conspiracy and then the world would know the awful conspiracy to personally destroy him through scurrilous lies. n nFor sure. n nI am not looking for personal saviors, grand leaders, redeemers. I apologize to you but in this age when political parties do not vet candidates but men (and women) with outsize egos and larger ambitions stalk the national stage, it pays to hold a healthy dollop of cynicism in reserve. n nThis guy was not an FDR, not an LBJ, not a JFK, not a Colin Powell, not a Reagsn, sadly, even an Obama as far as baseline having-your-act-together metrics goes. n nThe better candidates, btw, may have sat this out because they have calculated that Obama is in a much better position than the GOP candidates who entered the field (with the exception of Romney who is in danger of becoming this generation's Harold Stassen) believe.
If TS_Alfabet wants to defend Mr. Cain, then stick with "courage" in "…that Cain had the courage– the chutzpah, if you will– to run for President as a black conservative in the GOP…" n n"Chutzpah" is when you murder your parents, and then ask the judge for a pardon because you are an orphan. nHmmm, Mr. Cain certainly does have chutzpah, but only in his serial-excuser-playing-the-victim arrogance. Like PA President Mahmoud Abbas has chutzpah, but no book tour.