Open Letter to Herman Cain - UPDATED

Dear Mr. Cain:

We like you as a person and as a candidate for President of the United States.  We support you financially and otherwise.  We love that you are not a politician.  From the beginning of your campaign we loved that you were not afraid to speak up and let people know what you believe without caring what the media thought or which way the political winds were blowing.  Having said that, I fear you are falling into the traps being set by the MSM, the Left and by the Beltway Republicans.  You need to get back on track and be yourself.

At every opportunity you proudly shout "9-9-9" and the Fair Tax, a tax plan that most of us find easy to understand and much better than the chaos out tax system is in now.  You touted everyone needed some skin in the game, which we Conservatives agree with.  Then suddenly we hear you talking about a "9-0-9", with enclaves called opportunity zones, with different standards for different people.  This is America, Mr. Cain, and we believe that laws should be equal for everybody and we do not go along with these empowerment zones.  Perhaps the problem is ours, and we simply do not understand your plan, but I don't think so.  J.J. Jackson speaks for many of us when he says:

A good idea is heading for a rotten turn and Mr. Cain appears to be succumbing to the gripes of the looters who want to make sure they will be able to bargain and ply legislators for favors.  In point number three of his rebuttal, Mr. Cain states that he will soon be adding to his plan, “empowerment zones for economically struggling areas in which the rates will be even lower”.

Oh my!  Now 9-9-9, a formerly flat tax, becomes a progressive tax?  That pretty much makes the whole plan a non-starter in my mind if Mr. Cain is serious about traveling down this nebulous and dangerous path.

I can see it now!  Detroit gets to be a 6-6-6 zone (pun intended) and New York City gets to be an 8-8-8 zone while Cleveland gets to be a 7-8-4 perhaps?  Meanwhile you and I are stuck in a 9-9-9 zone still carrying the freight for those that have destroyed society.

My advice to Herman Cain is stop this insanity.  Stop it now.  It is obvious that this idea of “empowerment” zones is something that he is adding to try and bring on board people who will not come on board unless they get special treatment.  Enough! 

Are you purposefully trying to scuttle a decent plan?

Stick to your guns.  Do not start playing politics now.  The fact that you have not done that to date is what has endeared you to many in the GOP.  It is just not worth the risk to start “playing the game” now.  (Canada Free Press)

Mr. Cain, your enemies are legion.  Why?  Because you are a real threat to the political establishment.  A non-politician starting from nothing, rising to the top, beloved by his supporters because you are genuine, aren't you?  Don't believe me?  I'm sure you saw the video footage of Hillary Clinton and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai mocking you.  You brought this mocking on yourself with your stupid statement that you probably wouldn’t know the name of the leader of “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan” and that it wasn’t necessary for a president to know the names of “small insignificant states around the world.”  

Actually, it is necessary for you to know the names of leaders around the world.  You need to know about the political, religious, military situations of countries around the world if you plan to lead the greatest nation of all, The United States of America.  You need to make sure Americans know you are more than a pizza man, compare resumes with your detractors.

You are number one in the polls and only you can stop your rise to the top.  You are not just being criticized as a businessman, but as a Black man (see examples here).

You are being criticized because of your tax plan, and because of your lack of foreign policy knowledge.  It is up to you to take this seriously, educate yourself, get the best Conservative foreign policy advisers available and get them now.

Rick Perry is dropping like a stone in the polls, his fundraising is dropping. 

No Conservative I know wants Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee.

Your opportunity is here for the taking.  Don't be your own worst enemy. 

You originally said that you are pro-life, against abortion for any reason other than the life of the mother.  Now it appears you may be backing away from that.  Are you or is the media trying to paint you into something you are not? This interview seems to be clear to me, you need to be clear every time you are interviewed.  You say, " ... I said specifically, ‘I am pro-life, from conception, no abortions, no exceptions,’".  Charles Krauthammer said:  “I saw him on Stossel– entirely incoherent.” “It’s not just that he hasn’t thought it out,” he argued, “he’s winging it,” and so the incoherence stems from Cain just making things up on the spot. 

David Brody: “Are you for some sort of pro-life amendment to the constitution that in essence would trump Roe v. Wade?”

Herman Cain:  “Yes. Yes I feel that strongly about it. If we can get the necessary support and it comes to my desk I’ll sign it. That’s all I can do. I will sign it.”

David Brody: (In your Faith and Freedom speech) “You mentioned marriage as well so you’re also, just so I understand, you’re for a constitutional marriage amendment as well?”

Herman Cain: “I think marriage should be protected at the federal level also. I used to believe that it could be just handled by the states but there’s a movement going on to basically take the teeth out of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and that could cause an unraveling, so we do need some protection at the federal level because of that and so yes I would support legislation that would say that it’s between a man and a woman.”  (continue reading)

If this is what you believe, stick to it and call the media when they report anything different.  The other candidates are attacking you on this for a reason.  You're number one and they want you gone, don't do anything or say anything to help them accomplish this.

The media is pushing the idea that you have no ground campaign in Iowa, and other places, that you really don't have much of an organization, but your supporters like the idea that you are running a debt-free campaign.  Look how far you have come with little money.  The votes are there if you continue to be the candidate we think you are and the money will come.

Dan Riehl wonders:

The problem is, he knew all that ten years ago when he dropped out of the race in 2000. I can only draw two conclusions from this, either he's an incompetent who doesn't learn from past mistakes and experience, or he took a flyer and is now scrambling to throw together an ad hoc effort that will sell books, ultimately give us Romney as the nominee and maybe set Cain up for a VP slot, Cabinet post, or future Senate bid.

I'm not going to support someone who didn't do the very things he himself said he would have to do to win over ten years ago. In effect, as much as I may not want Romney as the nominee, at least he did the things he knew he'd have to do to win it, while Cain clearly did not. That's not leadership, or executive competence on Cain's part, it's marketing, whether you're selling pizza, or a prospective nominee for president.  (continue reading)

You must address these questions.  You must also address the accusations that you are not really a Washington outsider, that in fact you worked as a lobbyist, made connections with the Beltway crowd:

From 1996, when he left the pizza company, until 1999, Mr. Cain ran the National Restaurant Association, a once-sleepy trade group that he transformed into a lobbying powerhouse. He allied himself closely with cigarette makers fighting restaurant smoking bans, spoke out against lowering blood-alcohol limits as a way to prevent drunken driving, fought an increase in the minimum wage and opposed a patients’ bill of rights — all in keeping with the interests of the industry he represented. (New York Times)

Address everything, including your accused obsession with numerology and the number 45.  Stop the insanity.

The US is in a mess, the world is in a mess.  The economy is trashed.  The so-called Arab Spring has resulted in Islamists taking office, Sharia law set to be instituted.  Iran is getting close to going nuclear.  Iran plotted terror attacks on American soil. The US military is leaving Iraq while Afghanistan says it will support Pakistan against the United States.  If elected, you will be the Commander in Chief.

If you plan to be president you need to know about all of this, you need to have a plan for all of this.  It is serious business for everyone.  The future of our nation is at hand.

We want to continue supporting you, but you need to step things up and prove to voters that Herman Cain not only wants the job, but that you have (as you said) educated yourself so that you can do the job properly.

 

Respectfully,

Debbie Hamilton

 

UPDATE:

Since posting this open letter and emailing it to the Herman Cain campaign headquarters, there has been much discussion concerning Cain's rise to the top of the polls, his current possible missteps, and the next straw polls and debate.

Mark Steyn writes an article at The Corner, "When The Stan Hits The Fan", where he addresses some of my concerns:

[snip]

And yet, and yet. . . . The foreign policy, hostage-trading, abortion stuff is becoming more difficult to ignore. I don’t think Charles Krauthammer’s assertion that Cain’s “winging it” fully explains it, nor does the Pundette’s that he is “incoherent.” Cain’s boast that he can’t name the president of Beki-beki-beki-beki-beki-beki-stan gets closer to it. [snip]

But the ’stan shtick is a glimpse of the greater truth – that there are whole areas of public policy in which he simply has no interest. None.  [snip]

...   And it’s becoming harder to avoid the obvious truth that he hasn’t given them a moment’s thought.

It would be nice to have a candidate with a sunny demeanor who gets the urgency and understands the way fiscal insolvency, foreign affairs and social policy interact. But maybe from a talent pool of 200 million or so that’s an unreasonable expectation.

You can read the entire article and read all the comments, but I like the following comment from a reader calling himself John Galt:

John Galt : 10/24/11 17:15

"It would be nice to have a candidate with a sunny demeanor who gets the urgency and understands the way fiscal insolvency, foreign affairs and social policy interact." Actually, it would be nice to have a candidate who have a somewhat discernable history of advocating conservative principles. That's it. That's all I ask for. I couldn't care less if they have sunny demeanour or can prounounce the capital of Sri Lanka (Sri Jayewardenepura-Kotte) Which is why Cain is acceptable to me, despite his shortcomings. I would also be fine with many other candidates. Romney, on the other, is completely and utterly unacceptable. End of story.

 

My personal opinion is that there are a LOT of American voters who believe the same way John Galt does.  Herman Cain is Conservative, the most Conservative candidate running.  He may not be up to snuff on everything just yet, but he will get there.  Conservatives will vote for him.  They will stay home and not vote if Romney is the candidate.  

Mr. Cain, and voters, think about the consequences of the above long and hard.

Comments

[Angel]

wow well done girl..and I do not like the way he backtracked his remarks regarding Muzzlims too.............Have a great rest of the weekend~!:-)

[afticker]

Great letter Deb and I will be copying this and taking it to Mr. Cain's office here in Georgia on Monday or Tuesday.
I wonder what their reaction will be? I will let you know when the deed is done .
Ticker

[Debbie]

afticker: I sent the letter to the Herman Cain website, via their contact link. I don't look to hear from them, but at least hopefully someone will fill him it.

Let me know what you hear from them.

Debbie

[Adam Zur]

I think he should be the president but I hope he stays course.

[Jenny]

Excellent, brilliant article, Debbie. I agree with every word except where you say "We love that you are not a politician." Yes, he is a politician and that's the reason for your letter. He may not have started out that way but with every day that passes he becomes more of a politician. And ALL politicians are corrupt, period. This will not end well, I fear.

[Adam Zur]

So what if he is politician. Not all politicians are the same. You don't see a difference between the present administration and Bush?