2012 Candidate Cheat Sheet: Herman Cain

by The Ology Team .

On Aug 07, 2011

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Losing track of all the candidates in the 2012 election? Keep forgetting who stand where on which issues and why? Don't worry, PoliticOlogy's got your back with our recurring feature, the 2012 Candidate Cheat Sheet. We'll give you a little background on each candidate, what they love, what they hate, and hopefully a few funny facts that you can steal to make yourself look cool at parties. Don't worry, we don't mind. Enjoy!

Who He Is: Former Godfather's Pizza CEO and Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City chairman Herman Cain has been a business leader, columnist, and radio host. He has also been a ballistics mathematician for the Navy and currently serves as a minister in a suburban Atlanta church. Cain has received a BA from Morehouse college and an MS from Purdue. He ran very briefly for president during the 2000 election but never gained much momentum.

Why He'll Win:

• Cain has a great business track record, particularly for taking struggling regions and making them extremely profitable. Not to say that turning around the U.S. economy is the same as making Burger King popular near Philadelphia, but it's a pretty appealing story that you can sell to voters.
• Herman has media exposure. In addition to his work as a columnist and a commentator for Fox Business, Cain is not afraid to make controversial remarks - whether its accusing a Tennessee mosque of infringing upon freedom of religion or claiming that he wants all bills to be less than five pages, Cain nows how to say things that get free media coverage.
• He's a major player in the African-American community near Atlanta, and could theoretically break into any racially motivated voting blocs that President Obama would otherwise hold a monopoly over.

Why He'll Lose:

• Cain can get free media, but it has often backfired on him. Unlike free media queens Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, Cain has received some pretty harsh scrutiny for his often out there comments. He has earned points with social conservatives for some of what he says, but has often managed to go even further away from the middle than the party line, which could be his undoing.
• Herman has no political experience. Although he has been the leader of several businesses and has a good track record of economic turnaround, its hard to not see foreign policy as a glaring weakness. With multiple wars in the Middle East, he's going to be challenged on these issues and he simply doesn't have the credentials to compete.
• Really, he can be hard to take seriously. Making campaign promises about reducing Congressional reading material and misinterpreting the First Amendment make Cain look out of his depth and the race hasn't even really begun. His official campaign music video doesn't really help either:

SumOlogy: Not a likely candidate. He has an attractive business record, but he's too far out on social issues and doesn't have the political sensibilities to run this campaign long term. Expect for bluster for now, but he won't make it through the primaries.

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Follow Jonathan Moormann on Twitter: @HeedTheWalrus.

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