Tuesday Debate Puts Cain in Line of Fire for First Time
RealClearPolitics linked to my last political analysis (about Gingrich’s campaign) and this one is at the top spot on Pajamas Media, so I’ll be doing a little bit more political analysis.
An update to this article: Rick Santorum has called Cain’s 9-9-9 proposal a “bad plan” because it institutes a national sales tax without repealing the income tax. Expect Cain’s rivals to try to turn his popular 9-9-9 plan into a liability tomorrow night.
The race for the Republican presidential nomination has changed since the September 22 debate. Herman Cain has taken second place and is biting at Mitt Romney’s heels. Rick Perry has fallen to third, and Newt Gingrich is biting at his heels. Jon Huntsman has crept up to third place in New Hampshire. This all means that in the October 11 debate, Herman Cain will be in the line of fire for the first time and how he fares will have huge implications for the race.
Herman Cain’s meteoric rise brings Rick Perry’s former frontrunner status to mind, but he has less reason to collapse than Perry. As a late entrant, there were huge expectations for Perry. Cain, on the other hand, has been campaigning and debating since the beginning of the campaign and has proven his skill. He’s extremely likable and articulate, making it very risky for other candidates to attack him. His lack of a legislative record gives little for his opponents to scrutinize. Now that he seems viable, Republicans who merely liked him are now supporting him.
Cain needs to do a few things in this debate. First, he needs to boast about other parts of his resume so that his image is not reduced to being the “pizza guy” who is a powerful speaker. In his interview with Dick Morris, he mentioned for the first time that he was a mathematician and worked on weapons systems. Why didn’t we hear about this from him before?
