I know that my Cain obsession is getting old, but I just want to note that Herman had a pretty good day yesterday. Of course, it’s not hard to look like the cleverest child in kindergarten when everyone around you is pooping their pants.
As was well-documented here, and as Steve Benen emphasizes, Mitt Romney screwed the pooch in spectacular fashion with his inability to articulate the bedrock Republican principle that public unions should be destroyed. And, of course, Perry crapped out a terrible tax plan and made it worse by his birther jokes (see almost every post from yesterday for more details on that).
Herman, in contrast, released a pretty good attack ad and a homage to the smoking man from X-Files. Only the latter is in any way negative, and it’s more odd than damaging. Herman also addressed a Tea Party rally near Galveston, which earned him precisely two local stories (here’s the best one), and no national coverage.
Today, Herman is giving a talk to a group of Republican women in Corpus Christi. Tomorrow, if I were advising him, I’d suggest a week in a cave or a few days in a submarine. Perry and Romney are doing his work for him, and the worst thing he could do is get in the way of that murder-suicide.
Update: I forgot to mention that Herman’s been the frontrunner for 4 weeks in PPP’s polling.
MattF
Romney’s motto: “I’m the one who doesn’t have a personality disorder– because I don’t have a personality”
Perry’s motto:”I’m so fucking stupid I can’t even look better than Romney.”
Zifnab
If he was a serious contender, I think he could do a lot worse than – I don’t know – assembling an actual campaign staff in first-round states.
Cain’s political inexperience is glaring at this point. What is he even doing in the Texas Gulf Coast? We have, like, the least-important primary in the nation.
Wag
Do you think that Perry’s Cut Balance and Grow Tax plan, henceforth to be referred to as the CGBT plan is a subtle attempt to court aging Punk Rockers?
rikryah
he’s not a real candidate. he’s the Koch Brothers stooge, and he’s the first Citizens United candidate.
mistermix
@Zifnab: It’s not on his public calendar, but my guess is that he’s fundraising, which is the smart move when you’re the under-capitalized frontrunner.
norbizness
When you’re doing daily updates, it may be time to turn off the anti-virus protection and hit up some of those Slovenian websites.
Nevgu
With this post mistermix officially jumps the shark from just another Cole typing monkey to full throttle stupidity.
El Cid
Right wing douche exposed trying to punk OWS by giving out ‘Che Guevara rolling papers’ and confronted for his attempted bullshit.
dan
Herman’s been the frontrunner for 4 weeks. But according to the pundits he is the flavor of the week, and Romney of course will ascend.
Certified Mutant Enemy
“Shouldn’t that be Herberneutics?
— Sarah Palin
Zifnab
@mistermix: But fundraising from whom? That’s the other thing I don’t get. He’s got all the polling support, but he’s drawing in donations by dribs and drabs.
You can’t personally door-to-door fund raise for the Presidency. And the man doesn’t have a large or established campaign staff to assist in fund raising efforts. I’m not saying he was ever going to go toe-to-toe with Romney or Perry, but he could at least start getting on par with Paul. Paul has a fundraising machine that can draw tens of millions from a tiny fraction of the GOP base. Cain hasn’t shown the ability to tap much of anything from his 30%.
Mark B.
@Zifnab: I know, right? The Texas Primary is late in the game, and is probably the only one in the nation where Perry has a decent chance to win. Anyone else is fighting for table scraps, where the banquet meals are going to be served elsewhere.
flukebucket
I have just never been able to understand how you can be the Koch Brothers candidate and the first Citizens United candidate and yet have no money.
Herman Cain has absolutely zero interest in being President of the United States. He can make exponentially more money shooting the shit on some Fox news show and that is exactly what he will do when the smoke clears from this shit show he is starring in right now.
mistermix
@Zifnab: He appeared at some fundraisers this weekend. Those are the X dollars per plate affairs that all candidates use to raise money.
The reason he can’t moneybomb like Ron Paul is that Cain’s flavor of teabagger doesn’t have any money. Ron Paul has a number of well-off or at least middle-class libertarian supporters.
@Various Haters: I realize you’re gonna hate, but I don’t see any arguments to counter my rather obvious and uncontroversial point: Cain had a better day than Romney and Perry yesterday, and he should get out of the way of the fallout from the war those two idiots are fighting.
Mino
He should post a new ad. And get out of the way of the two idiots.
Mark B.
Yeah, it’s hard not to think this has been a colossal marketing technique to improve the sales of Godfather’s Pizza. Wait until they come out with presidential-themed specials …
Trinity
@El Cid: What a piece of $hit!
Kay
Just a minor correction, mistermix. It was never about “public unions”. It’s unions. The quotes from Perry and the Club For Growth make that clear.
“Collective bargaining” and “right to work” means “unions”. It’s an important admission by conservatives.
I’m glad they finally mustered up the courage to come right out and pick a side. It’ll be interesting to watch them run from it in rust belt states, post-primary.
I love that they’re using “right to work reforms”, which is NOT how Kasich and his enablers in media portray his law, but is, of course, the truth.
patrick II
The weirdest Cain Youtube I saw yesterday was not the smoking man, but the cowboy carrying yellow flowers. The cowboy punches a black guy for commenting on the flowers.
It also had a lady carrying a chicken.
Rick Taylor
That’s why Romney is the only top tier Republican candidate who has a chance in hell of beating Obama in the general election, you lunatic.
Rick Taylor
I’m pretty sure that video was a parody.
mistermix
@Kay: Good point, I updated the post.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@mistermix: I find your obsession kind of charming, but partly because you get bonus points for the Max pictures. And I agree that he should get out of the way of the two idiots with better hair.
Rick Taylor
This ad on the other hand is real.
RSA
Excellent title, mistermix, in the sense that I can never remember what “hermeneutics” means, and I can never figure out what Herman Cain means.
kay
@mistermix:
Thanks! I didn’t expect that. Private sector unions went bananas with Kasich’s law, because they knew it was an “existential threat” to labor unions. If they destroy unions in the rust belt hold-outs, we won’t have any unions in this country. It’s really that simple. O-V-E-R.
Tom Levenson
That man with a yellow chicken video is so post-modern that it seems like it should have been made by the Duke English department rather than an actual advertising agency working for a political client.
Just weird.
Amanda in the South Bay
I…am a little worried about the liberal Cain praisefest. Maybe I need some coffee before I post in the morning, but I’m starting to get Bush 2000 flashbacks.
kindness
Colbert’s reworked Cain 2012 commercials were an instant classic yesterday.
Brandon
It will be hilarious if the 2012 general was basically a re-run of the Obama-Keyes senate campaign. Crazification factor here we come.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Amanda in the South Bay:
If the GOP was really serious about voting for house negroes, they would have voted for Cain when he ran for office in his home state and was hosting a well-known radio show. I know it’s hard to believe but Cain has been beaten by worse candidates than Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.
As far as Bush 2000 flashbacks … in the general this wouldn’t be the equivalent of Bush v Gore. This would be the equivalent of Bugs Bunny vs. Elmer Fudd.
handsmile
Other than his polling numbers, is there any reason whatsoever to take Herman Cain seriously as a national political candidate? (I am not disputing his obvious entertainment value.)
His erratic behavior, his contradictory public statements, his wholesale failure to establish a campaign organization surely reveal him to be nothing more than a huckster, promoting himself and his self-motivational business endeavors.
And while his polling numbers may be plausibly interpreted as anti-Romney or disaffected-Perry sentiments of GOP primary voters responding to pollsters, the enduring careers of Newt Gingrich, Ralph Reed, and Sarah Palin convincingly demonstrate that Republicans do luuuv the grifters.
Mistermix (#14): It’s not a matter of “hating.” While perhaps there is not a “high standard of serious political inquiry here at this learned journal” as you sarcastically wrote yesterday, a great many of those who take the time to read these posts and further take the time to write comments evince a sophisticated understanding of political affairs and are moved to express their convictions when in disagreement with others’ opinions.
Let me be clear on this particular matter: I have long regarded you to be a keen and discerning writer, and I certainly enjoy reading your often wry posts. Your Herman Cain “obsession”, as you call it, struck me as puzzling and inadequately explained, and I responded accordingly. I suspect we may continue to disagree on this issue.
Cheers and thanks for what you do!
danimal
I’ve read that “Herman (or is it Herb?) Cain isn’t a serious candidate” for weeks and I tend to agree that his original plan was probably to boost speaking fees and book sales. But nothing says that he can’t win the thing from this point forward.
The winner is NOT the candidate with the best staff, or the most extensive ground operation, or the smoothest public relations demeanor, etc, etc. The winner is the one who has the most voters. They can be placing protest votes, or trying to prove they aren’t racist, or they can be waiting until the Second Coming of Ronaldus Maximus, or they just can’t stand Mitt, or they think Perry is too stupid, or whatever.
If they choose Herman Cain in sufficient numbers, he will win the GOP nomination. If Cain takes Iowa and South Carolina, he may become very formidible very quickly, and the money/organization will follow.
mistermix
@handsmile:
This has a bit of “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” flavor to it. Even so, let me give you another reason. In tiny states like NH, or states with a stupid caucus system like Iowa, yeah, Herman’s ground game and organization is important and he’ll probably lose because of it. But if Herman raises some cash, he can run ads in the bigger states like Florida and SC and perhaps pull off some upsets. Latest polls have him up in SC and neck-and-neck with Romney in FL. Those states have a serious number of delegates, unlike NH and Iowa.
Look, if I had to put money on Cain as the candidate, obviously, I wouldn’t be betting big. But I think his odds are better than the DC media is willing to admit, and I find that fascinating.
Regnad Kcin
@3
Where are the urban gourmands of yesteryear
Brachiator
@mistermix:
Heh. Great thread title.
@handsmile:
We’ll get some idea once the actual primaries begin.
And it’s odd, given the defects of all the other GOP candidates, and including Dame Sarah Palin, who originally lowered the bar, I am having a hard time seeing why Cain shouldn’t be taken seriously.
ornery
Mrmix, your obsession with Cain was never young.
Brachiator
@mistermix:
By the way, I hope that Cain stays around for a while. I’m looking forward to thread titles like “Cain and Unable,” “The Cain Mutiny,” “Raising Cain,” “Sugar Cain…”
Monala
Still in moderation?!
I wrote(twice now!) that I don’t think the “cowboy carrying yellow flowers” ad for Cain is a parody. Several articles and blog posts discussing the smoking man ad mentioned the cowboy one, all seeming to agree that both were legit. And then there’s Cain’s outrageously racist radio ad (look for “Herman Cain’s Racist Radio Ad” on Youtube) from 2006, which shows that over-the-top ads for Cain are nothing new.
handsmile
@mistermix: (#34)
I certainly appreciate your response, though truly I don’t understand the Lincoln bit.
I do maintain that historical patterns of GOP voting practices for African-American candidates for Congress or state house are more reliably predictive than pre-election polling.
You write, reasonably enough, that “if Herman raises some cash, he can run ads in the bigger states like Florida and SC and perhaps pull off some upsets.”
But I have been unable to find any information that Cain’s polling successes have translated into increased campaign donations (I’d be grateful for any info or links you may have come upon). A recent Reuters article (from October 15) on the subject of third quarter fundraising (Perry $17M, Romney $14M, Cain $2.8M) may now be irrelevant.
Money talks, of course, and if Cain’s seeming popularity with GOP primary voters is matched by increased contributions then perhaps his negligible or hastily-assembled staff can decide how to develop an effective campaign organization in key Southern states.
From my perspective, however, nothing the man has done thus far indicates he has the vision, temperament, or discipline to embark on such an endeavor. Rather his erratic behavior, contradictory public remarks, and recent bizarre advertisements suggest someone reckless and unnerved by an unexpected poll position.
While it may be fascinating in a motor sports crash kind of way, I find it profoundly disturbing that obvious charlatans and frauds from the GOP such as Cain, Palin or Trump are treated with respect and deliberation by the corporate media as credible candidates to be president of the United States.
Again, we may continue to disagree on this matter, but I appreciate the civil exchange of opinion.
Brachiator
@MattF: Perry’s motto:
And now, we have Perry saying that it was a mistake for him to enter the debates. WTF?
The GOP presidential candidate clown car is careening out of control.
Rome Again
@mistermix:
Hmmmm, and here I thought he was selling books!
Rome Again
Oh, and speaking of FLORIDA – he’s selling books there too. Not only that, he’s selling books to his campaign. So, apparently he’s not selling books to secure campaign funds, he’s campaigning to sell his book!
Rome Again
@Brachiator:
My favorite mundane astrologer already has a Cain Unable thread. :P
Rome Again
@flukebucket:
They weren’t hoping that the other black guy* would win, they were just hoping to queer Romney’s campaign and throw him off balance so a white second tier candidate could get an edge – because God knows (and as we’ve learned) the second tier candidates can’t do it on their own.
(*Sorry if this seems racist – I didn’t mean it to be. I’m voting for the first black guy, again!).
Frankensteinbeck
Cain can be considered a remotely serious candidate because the rules of the game have been thoroughly defenestrated. The lesson of the 2010 midterms wasn’t the GOP house takeover. That was election patterning standard. The lesson was that the clowns driving the car are GOP primary voters, who all of a sudden can, will, and are rejecting traditional well organized establishment candidates in favor of whackaloons nobody’s ever heard of. Can this happen nationwide? Nobody knows for sure where the clown car stops this time.
Rome Again
@Frankensteinbeck:
I predict about 27%. :P
JC
Will someone explain to me that cowboy carrying yellow flowers ad to me?
Now, don’t get me wrong – that ad is AWESOME. Really – it’s AWESOME.
Is it liberal? conservative? A parody, people are saying – but of what??
The top rated comment is “No. No. This can’t be serious. He must be trolling. Herman Cain is trolling America.”
I would have to agree – but I have to say, there is a lot of ingenuity in that video. Everyone and everything is being made fun of.
I’ve never seen a candidate video quite like that one.
...now I try to be amused
Are the yellow flowers and the chicken a dogwhistle? Or is it just a case of “sometimes a WTF is only a WTF”?
Did anyone else notice the closeups (plural!) of the cowboy’s butt?
Rome Again
@JC:
I can’t explain it. I’m just glad Herman Cain isn’t spending money pushing serious ads that define his candidacy (do you get the idea that perhaps he’s not supposed to win?). Personally, I think he’s assisting the Koch Brothers in trolling us.
Rick Taylor
I’m pretty sure this was a parody. It was obviously poking fun and mocking the actor who was supposedly the star of the piece supporting Cain. He speaks abusively to others working on the set, casually threatening someone’s job at the very beginning of the video.
Rick Taylor
Okaaaay, maybe the ad is real. I found this link. I don’t know what to think.
Brett Cottrell
Cain’s completely crazy. His plan for healthcare and poverty? Deliver the magic: http://brettcottrell.blogspot.com/2011/10/herman-cain-delivers-magic.html
JC
I want to have a post specifically to analyze that ad. So many possibilities:
a. So the ‘story’ is about a tough cowboy with flowers being ‘mocked’ by two other cowboys that are liberal. The ‘tough’ white cowboy hits the black cowboy liberal, who is mocking him. In the midst of the fight we cut to:
b. The actor steps ‘out of character’, is a conceited ass to those around him, and starts to talk to the camera – eventually saying how awesome Cain would be.
c. the fight continues in the background with some extras.
d There are random, non-sensical close-ups – like the butt shots mentioned above.
e. Eventually, the actor steps back into character, presiding over his ‘win’, and then ‘gets the girl’.
Questions:
a. So – why pick such a strange setup? Why the flowers? Why are the liberals also cowboys at all?
b. Why is the ‘actor’, once he appears, such a arrogant SOB? Who would care about his opinion, as entitled as he seems?
c. What is up with the weird action in the background, that continues to detract from the message, all the way through?
d. Is this actor, some strange homage to Reagan? Why an old man?
I really really want to know who is directing this stuff, is all I’m saying.