Cain Bows Out

Most of the usual I'm-Proud-My-Campaign-Addressed-The-Issues, and he manages to 9-9-9 us a few more times, in case we had forgotten.

But he begins with a rather dull commonplace:

You’re not defeated as long as you never stop fighting.

Actually, you're defeated at the moment that your goal is no longer attainable at that particular point in time. You can keep fighting all you want, but it's not going to change anything. And that is why Hermann Cain is suspending his campaign now, rather than continuing to fight until the Republican Convention.

If the goal was to keep fighting, then yes, so long as you remain upright and defiant, you are not beaten. And sometimes, as at Valley Forge, such is the goal. But not in this case. In this case the goal -- a nomination for President -- was lost. Whatever happens afterwards, the reality of that defeat must be absorbed.

But whatever. It was fun having you in the mix, Hermann, and all carping aside, you did shift the campaign, by your bold talk of tax reform, and the hope you gave the party's base that we didn't have to bow to the Establishment Candidate this time around. I think when the history of this horse-race is written, you might just be remembered as the Guy who put the Knife in Romney.

Hermann Cain Might Could Endorse Gingrich

Stacy McCain hardest hit.

Gingrich: Comparisons and Myths.

I've always kind of liked Newt Gingrich for his brains and brashness. I've also often wondered about his judgement (having an affair while sticking it to Clinton over Lewinsky? Really?). Now that Hermann Cain has hit his first post-bounce drop, I'm prepared to lean toward him a little.

In the AmSpec, Jeffrey Lord compares Gingrich to Churchill. The parallels are interesting, but more interesting is this:

Not to be forgotten is what Fox News commentator Juan Williams, recently sitting next to Gingrich on the set of Special Report with Bret Baier, delicately referred to as the former Speaker's personal "baggage." By which Williams means the Speaker's three marriages, the extra-marital business and all the rest. The famous myth of the first Gingrich divorce is discussed here by Gingrich's daughter Jackie Gingrich Cushman, who was present at the time. Surprise, surprise -- fact, says Ms. Cushman, is different than left-wing fiction. The first Mrs. Gingrich, a private person, is very much still alive, present and accounted for and not deceased as is the tale. The story runs roughly that the dastardly Newt took divorce papers to his dying wife's bedside when she had no idea a divorce was in the offing, shocking her as she lay dying. In fact Mrs. Gingrich, says her daughter, had herself requested the divorce long before Gingrich entered her hospital room. The story, says Cushman, is fiction from start to finish. Gingrich's political mistake was not understanding that such a personal moment would be distorted and used by liberal opponents. Out of such a moment perhaps comes the Newtonian understanding of the need for a political rapid response team whose sole purpose is to flag political untruths on the spot. Be that as it may, this tale shows the endurance of a political Bigfoot tale, the political equivalent of the fictional monster repeatedly spotted but mysteriously never actually captured because, of course, in fact it doesn't exist.

The art of political judgement differs not greatly from the art of the bloodhound. One must learn to tell false scents from true ones. If Gingrich isn't really as personally awful as legend has it, then maybe -- just maybe, he has mellowed, and like Churchill, knows what the hour demands.

Of course, not everyone is prepared to embrace this rise. Robert Stacy McCain seems more hostile to Gingrich than he was to Rick Perry, which is saying something. This I cannot understand. Preferring Hermann Cain to Newt can be defended on conservative personal and policy preferences. Preferring Mitt Romney to Newt smacks rather of taking one's ball and going home.

The More They Tell Me Cain Can't Win, the More I Wonder if He Can

Despite everybody taking a shot at 9-9-9, he's still atop the polls.

And Rick Perry has issued his 20-20 plan, and Newt has said "Me, too!"

So it would seem that the man has fundamentally transformed the race.

So again, what do we need Romney for?

Herman Cain is Pro-Choice, and I Don't Care...

Vox Populi has the skinny.

I'm more or less in Santorum's wheelhouse on this issue. An abortion obtain for any other reason than to save your own life is a moral failure, and I don't have a problem with them being illegal. But I also don't have a problem with a GOP pres candidate who thinks differently, because abortion is not my #1 issue for the federal government to handle right now. It's not even Top Ten. In fact, I don't want the federal government to handle it at all, which is why I want the Supreme Court to rescind Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.

But then, I haven't been burning incense to a little Herman Cain doll. I'm about ready to vote for Newt, just to see him tussle with Obama in the debates.

New Poll: All GOP Frontrunners Beat Obama

It's only one poll, but it begs the question:

If Hermann Cain can beat Obama, then what the hell do we need Mitt Romney for?

The New, Post-Racial America

When Democrats support a black Democrat for President, they are heroically redeeming America.

When Republicans support a black Republican for President, they are racists.

Because.

Wall Street Abandons Obama; the GOP Will Shift Accordingly

If this is true:

JP Morgan honcho Jamie Dimon, once a “fat cat” ally of President Obama, seems to have strayed to Republican contender Mitt Romney.
Dimon, a lifelong Democrat who was rumored to be on Obama’s short list for treasury secretary before he settled on Tim Geithner, met privately with Romney on Tuesday morning before a fund-raiser at Brasserie 8¹/2 hosted by Highbridge Capital, a JPMorgan-owned hedge fund.

 ...then the tide of independents and centrists are going to benefit Romney. People tend to view him as the most moderate of the real contenders for the Republican nomination. Which is a problem, as most of us deep-red radical-right-wing teabagging bitterclinging RAAAAACISTS view Romney as an economic heretic at best or a RINO at worst.

So who does that benefit? Herman Cain, fresh of his upset in the Florida straw poll. If centrists and bankers flood to Romney, then the GOP establishment has its Candidate of Gravitas and Experience. Which means the winguts and libertarians are going to need someone of minted outsider status who's demonstrated the capacity to win something. We thought Rick Perry was going to be that guy; so far he's shot himself in the foot and then shoved that foot in his mouth. Bachmann blew herself up going after Perry. Gingrich seems to be running for a Cabinet job (which he'd be good at).

That leaves Hermann Cain. For a guy whose candidacy has been declared dead to jump ahead in the polls as he has means a significant shift. It also means that the Tea Party vote is not bound up and sold to Sarah Palin. It also means that this race has just begun.

BTW, Chris Christie isn't going to run for President unless Obama wins. He's nowhere near dumb enough to think that he's conservative enough to satisfy the nationwide GOP base. He might be amenable to be someone's running mate, but that's it.

Sarah Palin's not running either. How do I know? Because she's not running. Her hesitancy speaks volumes about her own assessment of her own chances. Deep down, I don't think she really wants to run.  The dust storm kicked up by 2008 has cast her family into chaos and her out of a job. And that was as a Vice-Presidential candidate. She knows the real thing would be worse.

Pawlenty Runs Right

I've got nothing against Hermann Cain. He seems a likeable chap, and he's got the principles of governance down solid, at least rhetorically. But he may not have the resume for the job (Emphasis: May not. The guy was a director of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank). Tim Pawlenty, on the other hand, has a record that sound just about right:

I signed a budget that actually reduced state spending in real terms for the first time in the 150-year history of our state. I led the charge to move Minnesota out of the Top 10 highest-tax states. I passed market-based health care reforms and introduced merit pay for our teachers.

It wasn't easy. We had a brief government shutdown and had one of America's longest-ever public employee strikes. I also set a record for vetoes and for using executive power to force spending cuts. We balanced every budget during my time as governor while cutting state taxes.

It would be nice to get an idea of what "market-based reforms" meant, and how well they're doing in Minnesota. But this sounds like the best resume we've got going right now. If he comes through with telling hard truths about farm subsidies in Iowa, he might be the Real Deal.