Tag: Romney

Is Cain Still Able to Win?

As the sexual harassment accusations continue, Herman Cain and his camp continue to deny the allegations as “baseless” and “bogus” and to brand his accusers as liars. At his press conference on November 8, 2011, he claimed that the “Democratic machine” is out to get him. This is a change of direction; originally, Cain blamed the Perry organization for raising the issue of sexual harassment.

It is not easy to believe that these accusations are the machinations of the Democratic party. That party is focused on Romney getting the nomination. It would be very much to the Democrats’ advantage to have Cain run for president. He is inexperienced, he will appeal less to the swinging center because he is more conservative than Romney, and being black, he will turn off some of the Republican vote.

Actually, Cain’s troubles will have little effect on his race for the GOP nomination. Conservatives are quite prepared to put the accusations down to the “liberals” and the “liberal media.” For a precedent, we have only to look to the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, the most unqualified appointee in modern times. The accusations of sexual harassment against him only strengthened the Republican resolve to appoint him. (See my post “Virginia Doubts”, dated October 10, 2010.)

What this means is that Cain can still win the Republican nomination, but it is even more clear now that he cannot win the presidency.

Sarah Palin Should Run!

When Sarah Palin announced that she was not running for the Republican presidential nomination, she said she thought she would be more of an influence from outside the race. This, however, has not proven to be true. Once she dropped out, media interest shifted away from her, and without the media attention that she has been able to garner in the past, she is rapidly becoming irrelevant.

Look at the field. Romney is a virtual liberal pretending he’s conservative. Perry keeps faltering. Cain is about to head south. Palin’s main rival, Michelle Bachmann, is losing her former supporters, as they realize that she is in it for herself rather than for the greater cause. So the time ripe for Sarah Palin to come back in and revitalize the conservative movement.