July 18, 2004
A CANDIDATE WE CAN'T REFUSE:
Cain Makes Inroads in Ga. Senate Bid: Black Hopeful Scores With Conservatives (Manuel Roig-Franzia, July 18, 2004, Washington Post)
Herman Cain, fast-food millionaire turned U.S. Senate candidate, fixed his gaze on the semicircle crowding around him at the local political hangout and grinned. It was showtime. The women in the red-white-and-blue blouses had set aside their fried chicken plates and ambled into the lobby of the Plaza restaurant, idling attentively beneath the autographed picture of former House speaker Newt Gingrich."If you want to define conservative," Cain told them, punching up that last word for emphasis, "I'll spell it for you: C-A-I-N."
Cain, a former Burger King executive who owned Godfather's Pizza for 15 years before selling the chain in December, has chosen the most unconventional of stages for his political debut. In a state where more than half the Democratic voters are black, he is bidding to become the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate from the Deep South since Reconstruction by running as a Republican -- and a highly conservative Republican at that.
He has no delusions of appealing to masses of African American voters, saying he would expect to draw some support from black Democrats, but "no avalanche," if he pulls an upset over the front-runner, Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), and makes it into the general election. In recent years, two African Americans have been elected to Georgia statewide offices -- attorney general and labor commissioner -- though both are Democrats.
"We're as redneck as it comes, but we've come a long way," said Kay Godwin, a Cain supporter who also serves as a regional grass-roots coordinator for President Bush's reelection campaign.
Appealing to the mostly white, rural and small-town audiences that turn out for his speeches, Cain touts his opposition to abortion and his desire to abolish the Internal Revenue Service on damply humid courthouse squares, under century-old oaks, anywhere he can find someone who will listen.
A whole lotta folk will be listening when he speaks at the Convention. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 18, 2004 5:30 PM
When this guy spoke at my high school during my senior year, he told a great story from back when he and his brother were kids. It was still the age of segregation, and they were in a department store looking at water fountains labeled "white" and "colored." They suddenly noticed that there was nobody in the vicinity.
Cain's brother tentatively stepped up to the "white" water fountain and took a drink, and then Cain did the same thing.
They stood silent for a moment looking at each other, before breaking out in unison: "THE WATER TASTES THE SAME!!!"
Posted by: Matt at July 18, 2004 6:45 PMTalented guy who should be useful to the Bush Administration, but Isakson is going to win.
Posted by: h-man at July 18, 2004 7:29 PMI haven't been following the polls but the sense is that Cain will come close but not win the primary as h-man suggests. If that is the case then Bush should find some use for him.
Then again, picking Colin, Condi, Rod Paige, and others didn't help Bush with African-Americans so this may not be of use either.
I imagine he'll force a runoff.
Posted by: Chris at July 18, 2004 9:20 PM