I don't like the political debates because they tear at each other. Perhaps in the long run, it will help in the election run. The debates have helped Cain and I also like Herman Cain, but there must be the absolute surest candidate to get this would-be dictator, o, out of office. I believe o is scared that he will be ousted and then found out for the real damage he has done to America. o should become the 'man without a country' unless Kenya or another country accepts him. Governor Huckabee said in his recent program that we should not take personal shots at o's background, but I personally resent that such an ill-conceived orator creation has been voted into our highest office.
Thanks for the article! Barbara surely added to your son's intelligence.
Sam
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The administration of Gov. John Kasich is...
By Joe Vardon
The Columbus Dispatch Sunday October 30, 2011 10:16 AM
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Herman Cain topped the most-recent Quinnipiac University poll of Ohio GOP respondents.
Long before Herman Cain’s surprising meteoric rise to the top of Republican presidential polls nationally and in Ohio, Cain had the endorsement of another budding conservative politician.
Joe the Plumber.
“I’ve known Herman for about three years now,” Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher told The Dispatch in a phone interview. “I met him at an event after I had gained notoriety, and he gave me advice. He didn’t try to use me. I know the character of the man ... and he’s running for the right reasons.”
Wurzelbacher, the average Joe who gained attention by engaging then-candidate Barack Obama over economics during the 2008 election on the Democrat’s visit to the Toledo area, knows something about trying to squeeze staying power out of 15 minutes of fame. He’s running next year for the U.S. House in the new district formed by combining those of Democrats Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich up north.
Cain’s task is much larger and must be accomplished on a much-grander scale, but the basic sentiment is the same. He is indeed the flavor of the month in this topsy-turvy GOP presidential primary, but can the former president and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, who has never held political office, become a legitimate contender for the supreme office in the land?
The Cain campaign did not return a message seeking comment. But to illustrate the challenge
ahead, consider what happened last week.
Already generating national buzz with his rise to the top of more than one major poll, his 9-9-9 tax plan and his campaign commercial featuring his cigarette-smoking chief of staff, Cain was the top vote-getter in Quinnipiac University’s poll of Ohio voters, picking up support from 28 percent of GOP respondents.
But the Ohio Democratic Party ignored Cain and spent the week picking on the second-place candidate in Ohio, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The party went so far as to send out a news release stating, in part, that Romney would attend last night’s Ohio-State-Wisconsin football game in Columbus but would refuse to pick a team to cheer for, a play on Romney’s refusal to endorse Issue 2 and Issue 3 during a visit to a suburban Cincinnati GOP call center on Tuesday.
“Herman Cain is a fringe candidate who won’t win the nomination,” said Chris Redfern, chairman of the state Democratic Party. “We wish he would win, but the nominee is going to be Mitt Romney or (Texas Gov.) Rick Perry.”
Cain polled at 7 percent in Ohio in Quinnipiac’s poll last month and had been languishing nationally behind Romney, Perry and others while some prominent Republicans — including Ohio Gov. John Kasich — were urging New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to run, in part because of dissatisfaction with the GOP field.
In addition to surging to the lead in Ohio in October, Cain also took first place in recent national polls by CBS/ New York Times, NBC/ Wall Street Journal and Fox News.
Yet when asked by The Dispatch about Cain’s polling success in Ohio and his viability as a candidate, Ohio Republican Chairman Kevin DeWine would say only, “Herman Cain needs to show voters that earned media and poll numbers can translate to effective fundraising and then, ultimately, a strong organization.”
“Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have already proven that they can accomplish this among a handful of nominating states,” DeWine added in an email. He also said that the Quinnipiac Poll “lends credibility to the argument that the race for the Republican nomination remains fluid.”
That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for the current GOP front-runner to take on President Obama next year. But for Cain to have climbed as high as he has in polls, somebody has to be supporting Cain out there, even if prominent Republicans aren’t buying Cain’s folksy style, track record, or chances next year.
For some of the campaign supporters reached by The Dispatch, the more they hear Cain speak during the numerous Republican debates or on TV, the more they like him.
Vince Tornero, a 23-year-old student at Ohio State University, said he switched his support from U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of
Minnesota to Cain in late August.
“I feel like I can completely relate with Mr. Cain,” Tornero said in an email. “His speaking style is legitimate, and it does not seem like he is ‘holding back’ or being disingenuous.”
Daniel Hovermale, a
44-year-old commercial helicopter pilot from Circleville, Ohio, said Cain is the “anti-Obama” and has “a message that resonates with the electorate.”
And Mary Gehrmann, 72, living in Danville, Calif., said in an email that she believes Cain has staying power.
“The reason is the people,” Gehrmann said. “Never underestimate the power of the people. We are tired of what has happened to this country. I know there are many, especially the media, that are shaking their heads and still wondering ... how ... he is still so high in the polls. They just don’t get it yet.”
Wurzelbacher, for what it’s worth, echoed Gehrmann’s thoughts about Cain’s staying power.
And what was the advice Cain gave Wurzelbacher, anyway?
“He told me to always be yourself; don’t let anybody change you.”
jvardon@dispatch.com
