Herman Cain won the Florida Straw Poll in a convincing fashion. So what?
I find it strange that some in the media would allow a private event like this to influence their view of the GOP Presidential Primary race. Congressman Ron Paul has won tons of Straw Polls. But he has never won a primary and he won't be winning the nomination in 2012.
There are things I like about Herman Cain... he seems to have a pretty solid background in business, and he talks about reducing the tax rates. Check and check. Those work for me.
However, there are several other factors that show me that Herman Cain isn't the right guy to be our President. He has never won elected office, and he seems to only be interested in the highest possible ones. He has run for President and U.S. Senate before, and he didn't come close to winning either time. To me, this shows that he has a certain attitude of self-importance. (What, he couldn't be a Mayor or Congressman first?)
One of the things I liked the most about Cain was his truth about Islam. He said he wouldn't hire a Muslim to be in his Cabinet if elected. I agree with this because Muslims follow a prophet who raped and murdered people. A prophet who encourages his followers to murder non-believers of Islam. If you can choose to follow someone like that, there is already something wrong with you.
Of course, when these comments started to be attacked by the media, Cain did the typical politician thing and started walking back his comments. I don't care for that. The truth is the truth, no matter how well you disguise it. If he can't stand his ground on those comments, I don't need him in the White House. I prefer candidates like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry... who have made some controversial statements, but stand behind their positions. To me, that shows leadership and an unwillingness to bend to political correctness.
Cain also spends a lot of time talking about "reforming" different troublesome areas of our government. Again, I prefer Conservatives like Bachmann and Perry who talk about dismantling certain departments of our government and getting rid of them altogether. Cains conservatism doesn't ring true to me. He seems like a moderate who is willing to slide towards liberalism if pushed hard enough.
There are some strange people in our party who feel that we need to run an African-American candidate in order to beat Obama in 2012. I feel that this is crazy and the furthest thing from the truth. We need to run a competent professional in 2012, with a history of results. That is what will defeat the ineffective and incompetent Barack Obama. Not skin color.
Voters know a leader when they see one. Rick Perry jumped into the race and soared to first place over a pack of candidates who had been running for a year. Voters liked what they saw in him.
Herman Cain will receive a fair amount of votes for the GOP nomination. But he won't be our candidate in 2012. He is not good enough. I actually suspect Cain is "building his brand" so that he can win a race for Governor or U.S. Senate a few years down the road. He is certainly getting more famous and drawing in more supporters as he goes along... but I am not one of them.
