As you probably know by now, Herman Cain has decided to “suspend” his presidential campaign. For all intents and purposes, this means his campaign is over. It’s too bad, really: I thought he had some good ideas, and would have brought a fresh new perspective to the job of President. Barring some kind of Christmas miracle, I’m going to have to find another candidate to back.
Unless and until he wins the nomination, I’m 100% absolutely sure that it will not be Mitt Romney. However, since (any Republican candidate) >(zero)Bama, if Mitt is the candidate, that’s who will get my vote. Anything and anybody to dislodge Wile E. Obama and his ACME Economic Destruction Company from office.
Herman Cain writes today at North Star Writers about his disappointment at having to short-circuit his campaign, and his plans for the immediate future. Some people are saying he’s going to endorse Newt Gingrich today. I’m not sure how I feel about that; I’ll have to wait and see.
And while I am disappointed, there are more than a few silver linings to doing this work outside the context of a presidential campaign. The process by which we choose our nation’s leader is ridiculous. There is little focus on policy substance and even less on candidates’ governing skills. If you’re not warding off some wild accusation, you’re explaining away a “gaffe,” which is usually the sort of slip of the tongue that anyone can make, but because some reporter heard it, it turns into a news-cycle narrative with a shelf life of six or seven days.
That’s behind us. All I need to do now is advocate for solutions that work, under the auspices of TheCainSolutions.com, and that will have two essential elements.
One is to better educate the American people about the nature of the problems we face. There is still too little understanding of the severity of our debt and fiscal crisis. That is why members of Congress lack the political will to solve the problem. They perceive that they will pay a steeper price for taking action than they will pay for doing nothing. That is no excuse for such poor leadership, but the fact remains that if we can change the political dynamic – so that the people are demanding action rather than rewarding inaction – we will be able to change the results.
The second element is to advocate for solutions that actually work. I was amused by the criticism I received for frequently mentioning my 9-9-9 tax reform, particularly by those who referred to it as a “catch phrase” and so forth, clearly demonstrating that they didn’t grasp what it’s all about. The 9-9-9 plan is the biggest transfer of power from government back to the people since the beginning of this nation. That’s what they are afraid of.
I talked about 9-9-9 so often during the campaign because it’s a major reform that would completely change the way we pay taxes, the way we do business and the way people manage their personal budgets. We need reform like that. Political consultants are forever telling candidates to “stay on message,” but I guess that doesn’t apply when the message is a substantive reform that would actually solve problems. Be that as it may, I am far from finished staying on message. The Cain Solutions effort will relentlessly push for an understanding of the real stakes our nation faces, and for a groundswell that demands real solutions.
Read the rest: Brokenhearted, but not broken.
