And the field narrows… Cain announces ‘Plan B’
Herman Cain will announce in a few moments that he is ending his troubled campaign for president of the United States.
As is often the case, unvetted, often self-styled ‘outsider candidates’ wind up either sticking their foot in their mouth, or, in Cain’s case… It is very difficult to be a politician in American politics these days, and have ever done anything of interest at all. In Cain’s case, it certainly was alleged that he went way beyond interesting or controversial.
Politics is a dirty job, but we expect our politicians to be squeaky clean. This is not just an irony, it engenders and perpetuates a dysfunctional system.
I am not suggesting for a moment that Cain would make a good president. I am not suggesting that he would not have been a good, or even great president. We will never know the answer to that question. What I am suggesting is that the media, and our culture as a whole, almost guarantee that no person aspiring to political office can tell the truth as they see it. The truth is too dangerous. Taking a stand is too dangerous. Being interesting is too dangerous.
If the allegations about Herman Cain were true, then we can safely say that he has more than just a lack of sufficient experience to serve as president. He apparently also lacks the moral character, in a big way.
What disturbs this author is not the demise of the Cain campaign, whose passions appear to have had the better of him. It is the demise of passion in American politics. It is the fact that the voices of innuendo and allegations often speak louder than any other voice. In this case, it certainly ‘feels’ as though there was substance behind the allegations. But as I asked the reader in our first post on this topic, what if there had not been? In American politics today, it is enough for the allegation to exist it seems. Ask John Kerry.
When we consistently elect those with the least number of public flaws or mistakes, we pretty much ensure the continuing march towards mediocrity, not exceptionalism. Al Gore is the exception that proves the rule – perhaps the best prepared, least tarnished candidate in our history as a Republic (by many accounts, not just those of liberal thinkers).
Breaking Update – Cain suspends his political campaign at 1:43pm.
Cain arrives via his campaign bus at 1:28p EST (90 minutes late). The campaign bus has a large, generic QR code on the door… they should have used a service like QRstyler.com to add some flair and a call to action!
Cain arrives at the podium amid modest applause. He begins after several bows – and responds to the crowd “I love you too.”
Cain rails against ‘establishment Washington’, an establishment which ‘denies America solutions.’
“ome of the first declarations that I want to make to you today, is that I am at peace with my god, I am at peace with my wife, and she is at peace with me!” (Chants of Gloria from the gathered supporters).
“… Becoming president was plan . Before you get discouraged, I want to describe plan B…I am suspending my presidential campaign… because of the distractions and hurt caused me and my family”.
Cain announces that his “…plan B is that I will continue to be a voice for the American people.” Cain announces the launch of his new website and organization “Cain Solutions” at cainsolutions.com.