Herman Cain also declines to sign abortion pledge

ABC News: Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain declined to sign Susan B Anthony List’s Pro-Life Presidential Pledge, while the organization says five other GOP 2012 candidates have signed the pledge.

SBL List called on each GOP presidential candidate to agree to four specific anti-abortion pledges including only nominating pro-life judges and selecting pro-life appointees to key positions in their administrations if they were elected president.

Cain issued a statement to explain why he chose not to sign the pledge. He said he agrees with the first three parts of the pledge because he “adamantly” supports the appointing pro-life judges and selecting pro-life appointees to his Cabinet and the Executive Branch as well ending taxpayer funding for abortions, but he had a problem with the last part of the pledge.

“The fourth requirement demands that I 'advance' the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. As president, I would sign it, but Congress must advance the legislation,” he said. “I have been a consistent and unwavering champion of pro life issues. In no way does this singular instance of clarification denote an abandonment of the pro-life movement, but instead, is a testament to my respect for the balance of power and the role of the presidency.” [MORE]

As several of you pointed out in the comment section of the Romney post, Herman Cain has also declined to sign the same pledge. So what is the difference? Simple, it is a matter of trust. For Herman Cain, there isn't anything in his record to question his sincerity on the abortion issue. Not so for Mitt Romney. Everyone knows that Romney has changed positions on this issue (along with a few other issues).

Fair or unfair people will question the true motives of Romney's decision. Is his refusal exactly what he states or is Mitt reverting to his old ways. That is why for Herman Cain, refusing to sign SBA List's pledge won't effect him as much as it will Romney.

On the plus side for Romney, Cain's refusal will give Romney some much needed cover.

Via: ABC News

The New York Times notices Herman Cain

Yesterday, I was quite surprised when I read the very fair and kind of glowing article about Herman Cain inTthe New York Times. Here is a sample:

Those not frequenting Tea Party rallies or the living rooms and coffee shops of New Hampshire and Iowa might dismiss Mr. Cain, a talk radio host and former chief executive of Godfather’s Pizza, as a frivolous candidate — “the pizza guy” as some call him.

But there are signs of what Mr. Cain, in his booming baritone, calls “Old Man Mo — Momentum!”

A Gallup poll released last week showed Mr. Cain with the highest voter intensity score of any Republican presidential contender — far higher than Ms. Palin, a former governor of Alaska, or Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. While Mr. Cain’s name recognition was at 37 percent, it had risen 16 points since March.

Many pundits and voters declared him the winner of the first Republican debate last month. And he won the straw polls at the Tea Party Patriots convention in February and the Conservative Values Conference in Iowa in March.

The article goes on like this for two pages. Such a fair and balanced article in the New York Times about a black conservative has me wondering, what is the MSM up to?

Under the old MSM structure the New York Times serves as the sounding board from which the other liberal media takes their cues. This is why it hard to me to believe that the Times would do an honest piece on Herman Cain without having an ulterior motive.

Whatever the reason, it is good to see Herman Cain get positive press that will help him gain more name recognition.

In case you missed it, Herman Cain was on This Week, check out the clip below.

Via: Memeorandum
Via: The New York Times
Video h/t: Mediaite

A self-inflicted wound: Herman Cain and Muslim appointees

Last week Herman Cain attended the Conservative Principles Conference in Iowa (see video of his speech here). After the event someone from the lefty site Think Progress asked Cain if he was comfortable appointing Muslims to his cabinet or the Supreme Court. Herman Cain gave a very straight up answer.

Needless to say, a mini firestorm erupted. Herman Cain then went on Neil Cavuto's show and again stood by his words.

I understand where Cain is coming from. Because of Muslim extremists, a certain amount of caution must be used when dealing with Muslims. Failure to do so is both foolish and dangerous. However, given the way Cain has handled the question, it is all too easy for the left to twist his words into something else.  It would have been far better to answer the question in the positive rather than the negative.  For example: Yes, I would appoint a Muslim to my cabinet or the Supreme Court, but only after I was 100% sure they were not a closet extremist trying to push Sharia Law.

As I have stated on this blog several times, distractions are going to highly sought after by Obama and the left in 2012. They have little choice but to look for distractions given Obama's abysmal performance on the economy, jobs and the debt. Any candidate who provides Obama with distractions, will find themselves struggling to stay on message when it comes to those three big issues. Gingrich has destroyed his 2012 chances by setting up several distracting topics for the left. Cain's Muslim answer fits this bill as well.

Herman Cain also has another problem. He is relatively unknown outside conservative circles. Therefore it is crucial that he gets to define himself before the left defines him. Cain's blunt answers to this Muslim question makes it very easy for the left to define him as a bigot. For independents who are just casual followers of politics, the bigot charge can really stick.

Fortunately for Cain it is still early enough to repair this self-inflicted wound. However, Cain must understand that he cannot afford to give the left another opening like that again. If he does, he will make himself a sure loser just like Gingrich did.

Disclosure: I still like Herman Cain and he is still one of the few I am considering for 2012. One of my chief concerns about him is how he acquits himself against a left wing onslaught. How he handles this issue going forward will be quite telling for me.

Via: The Blaze
Via: The Blaze
Via: Just a Conservative Girl

Christianity Today interviews Herman Cain

Christianity today interviewed Herman Cain on a variety of topics, from his battle with cancer to his views on Christianity and of course his presidential aspirations.

From the interview, the part that is making an absolute stir is Cain's views on Muslims attempts to convert Americans to Islam.

Christianity Today: When speaking about your battle with cancer at the Milner church, at one point, you indicate that you were a little uncomfortable when you found out that your surgeon's name was Abdallah, until you found out he was a Lebanese Christian. So what's your perspective on the role of Muslims in American society?

The role of Muslims in American society is for them to be allowed to practice their religion freely, which is part of our First Amendment. The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. Because we are a Judeo-Christian nation, from the fact that 85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals, or practicing the Jewish faith. Eighty-five percent. One percent of the practicing religious believers in this country are Muslim.

And so I push back and reject them trying to convert the rest of us. And based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them. Now, I know that there are some peaceful Muslims who don't go around preaching or practicing that. Well, unfortunately, we can't sit back and tolerate the radical ones simply because we know that there are some of them who don't believe in that aspect of the Muslim religion. So their role is to be allowed to practice their religion freely, just like we should be allowed to practice our religion freely, and not try to convert the rest of us.

You can almost hear the left howling over these remarks. Never mind that so many on the left hold a similar view when it comes Christians trying to spread the word of Christianity.

Herman Cain needs to be a little careful tackling topics like this. Statements like this are exactly what Obama and the left needs to distract from Obama's reckless and irresponsible fiscal policies in 2012.

Click here to read the entire interview.

Via: Memeorandum
Via: Christianity Today

Herman Cain: Planned Parenthood's mission is "planned genocide" for black babies

During a Q and A session at The Heritage Foundation, Herman Cain laid a serious smackdown on Planned Parenthood.

CNN: Speaking to reporters and bloggers at the Heritage Foundation, Cain echoed a position expressed by many other Republicans.

“I support de-funding Planned Parenthood,” Cain said. “Tactically how they [Congress] does it…I can’t tell you.”

Cain then explained the reason behind his stance.

“You probably don’t hear a lot of people talking about this,” Cain said. “When Margaret Sanger – check my history – started Planned Parenthood, the objective was to put these centers in primarily black communities so they could help kill black babies before they came into the world.”

“It's planned genocide,” Cain claimed.

“It’s carrying out its original mission,” he continued. “I’ve talked to young girls who go in there, and they [Planned Parenthood] don’t talk about how you plan parenthood. They don’t talk about adoption as an option. They don’t say, ‘Well, bring your parents in so we can sit down and talk with you, and counsel with you before you make this decision.’”

Wow, Cain is bound to stir the hornets' nest with that statement. There is nothing that drives the left insane faster than when you peel back their phony veneer of compassion and expose the evil inside. To date only Palin seems brave enough to do that (i.e. death panels and blood libel).

Of course Planned Parenthood responded immediately, but the best part is they didn't have a damn thing to say about Margaret Sanger. How could they?

“Herman Cain is clearly out of the mainstream by supporting an extreme proposal that would bar Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving federal funds for any purpose, including for preventive health care, lifesaving cancer screenings, breast exams, birth control, HIV testing and STD testing and treatment,” said Veronica Byrd, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s director of African-American Media. “The care that Planned Parenthood provides benefits all women, especially African-American women who experience higher rates of illness.”

Byrd continued: “Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses provide affordable, health care to every woman who comes through the doors of one of our 800 health centers, regardless of where she lives, her race or ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, or income level. We are committed to providing every woman with a full range of high quality health care.”

As for the claim regarding African-American babies, Byrd cited a study that “found that fewer than one in 10 abortion clinics are located in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.”

Byrd did not respond directly to Cain’s words about its founder, Margaret Sanger.

But Planned Parenthood’s website heaps praise on her as a hero in the “fight for women’s health, rights and equality.”

I think about those sting videos and how those Planned Parenthood workers seemed like there was no barrier to great to stop them from giving abortions and I cannot imagine a situation where a young black girl would be offered any real choice to save her baby at Planned Parenthood.

An honest discussion about abortion in the black community is way over due. Unfortunately, too many times when tough issues like abortion are brought up, too many defenders of the status quo in the black community prefer to shoot the messenger rather than discuss the issue. 

For current statistics on abortion in the black community see CDC's latest report and New York City's Vital Statistics Report.

Via: Memeorandum
Via: CNN

Herman Cain wins TEA Party straw poll at American Policy Summit in Phoenix

CNN: Cain, a conservative talk show host and former Godfather's Pizza chief executive, won the American Policy Summit's presidential live straw poll on Sunday.

Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas won the summit's online poll.The survey is a chance for conservative activists gathered on the last day of the Tea Party Patriots conference to name their favorite presidential picks.

Cain won nearly 22 percent of the nearly 1,600 votes cast. Paul won nearly half the votes cast by more than 2,300 online registered attendees. [...]

Following Cain in the live voting were: former Minnesota Republican governor Tim Pawlenty, with nearly 16 percent of the votes; Paul, with just over 15 percent; former Alaska Republican governor Sarah Palin, with just over 10 percent; former Massachusetts Republican governor Mitt Romney, with nearly 6.5 percent, and Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, with just over 5.6 percent.

I am not surprised Cain won.  Cain, Pawlenty and Paul were all in attendance and out of the three, Cain is by far the most charismatic. When the primaries get underway, Cain will certainly be one to watch.  It will be fascinating watching bore snores like Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty trying to get attention with Herman Cain and Sarah Palin in the same arena.

I also hope this win helps to raise his profile and name recognition.

For those who missed Cain's remarks at the American Policy Summit, here is the video and for those interested in Pawlenty's remarks you can read them here.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: CNN
Via: Tim Pawlenty

Video h/t: The Right Scoop

VIDEO: Herman Cain at CPAC 2011

Herman Cain is on my shortlist for 2012. Aside from the obvious (he's a another black conservative) I like the fact that Herman Cain is a long time businessman and an outsider to Washington.  My only concern about him is that he has never run a national campaign before.


I am concerned about this because 2012 is going to be brutal.  First, the left has set new standards for low with their continued attacks on Palin.  All that nasty stuff they throw at Palin will be thrown at the GOP nominee, make no mistake about that.  Is Cain ready for all that? Nothing would be more devastating than to have a good man like Cain tarred, smeared and defeated because he wasn't ready for the grinder.


Hopefully the GOP nomination will be extra nasty so that we can gauge how well Cain handles himself.


Via: CPAC Live

Herman Cain at SRLC: Harry Reid would not approve

Author and radio host Herman Cain fired up SRLC with his dark skin and Negro dialect. This brother knows how to inspire.

Herman Cain the “dark horse” candidate for 2012?  If true, Sarah Palin may have some real competition, because like her this guy has charisma!

Thanks to Just A Conservative Girl for the heads up and h/t to The Right Scoop for the video.