Meet Herman Cain

Josh Dorner
Progress Reports
Jun 9, 2011

The Islamophobia Candidate

Herman Cain is probably the most important 2012 candidate you’ve never heard of — and we’d like to change that. With Herman Cain growing more popular in the polls and the next GOP primary debate just around the corner, here’s the rundown on Herman Cain.

What you might know about Herman Cain

• He is the former president and CEO of Godfather’s pizza
• He is a Tea Party favorite
• He is a former radio show host and Fox Business Channel contributor, naturally

What you might not know about Herman Cain’s and his campaign

• He is surging in the GOP primary polls and is more popular than other, more well-known candidates. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll out just yesterday, he was tied for third with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) — putting him ahead of Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Jon Hunstman.
• He was the most googled presidential candidate during the month of May
• He was on the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City during the 1990s
• He won the GOP’s first official debate, held last month in South Carolina, according to a Fox News/Frank Luntz focus group
• His official campaign announcement in Atlanta attracted nearly 15,000 people
• He has visited Iowa 19 times
• He says he is proof that the Tea Party is not racist

What you should know about some of the extreme views of Herman Cain

• Cain wouldn’t appoint Muslims to his administration: Back in March, ThinkProgress asked Cain if he’d be comfortable appointing Muslims to his cabinet and the federal judiciary. His response: “No, I will not.” During the now three-month long media firestorm that ensued, Cain hasrepeatedlytried to deny that’s what he said. PolitiFact awarded his denials a “pants on fire” rating. Religious tests are, of course,unconstitutional.
• Cain would require special loyalty oaths for Muslims: Yesterday, Cain gave an expansive interview to Glenn Beck, who asked him about his comments on Muslims appointees.  Cain once again attempted to tamp down the controversy by insisting he’d been misquoted, but then added he would require special loyalty oaths for Muslims — but not for any other religious group.
• Cain says Muslims “have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them”: In an interview with Christianity Today magazine, Cain remarked: “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.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.”
• Cain’s solution for securing the border is a Great Wall of China featuring a moat with alligators: During an event ThinkProgress attended earlier this week in Iowa, Cain said: “Now, my fence might be part Great Wall and part electrical technology. […] It will be a 20-foot wall, barbed wire, electrified on the top, and on this side of the fence, I’ll have that moat that President Obama talked about. And I would put those alligators in that moat!”
• Cain worked for a group and voiced ads in previous elections that accused Democrats of wanting to kill “black babies”: The group for which he was the spokesman and helped voice ads for in the 2004 and 2006 election cycles ran spots on black radio stations with lines like: “Black babies are terminated at triple the rate of white babies. The Democratic Party supports these abortion laws that are decimating our people, but the individual’s right to life is protected in the Republican platform. Democrats say they want our vote. Why don’t they want our lives?”
• Cain thinks it’s “plausible” that Planned Parenthood was formed to systematically lower the black population: During a 2004 Senate run, Cain said: “One of the motivations was killing black babies, because they didn’t want to deal with the problems of illiteracy and poverty.”
• Cain thinks homosexuality is a sin, but he’d appoint gay cabinet members –because, he says, they would not try to impose Sharia law: Cain told CBS news that he believeshomosexuality is a sin; however, he told ThinkProgress earlier this week that he’d still be willing to appoint gays because he apparently believes they are anti-Sharia: “Nope, not at all. I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all. I just want people who are qualified, I want them to believe in the Constitution of the United States of America. So yep, I don’t have a problem with appointing an openly gay person. Because they’re not going to try to put sharia law in our laws.”
• Cain taking part in a Tea Party, pro-gold standard bus tour of Iowa: Along with several other candidates, Cain will participate in a three-week tour of Iowa that is focused, in part, on returning the U.S. to the gold standard, a favorite theme of Glenn Beck and the Tea Party. Blaming the national debt, Cain did admit to an Iowa audience earlier this week that it might be too difficult for the U.S. to go back on the gold standard.
• Cain misreads the Constitution to say the federal government can’t do anything about the foreclosure crisis: During a recent interview, Cain said, “The United States federal government, folks, has no jurisdiction over bankruptcy law. States do!”  Article I of the Constitution, however, explicitly states: ““[t]he Congress shall have power . . . [t]o establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States.”

Cain has also had some notable gaffes, including saying he would only sign bills three pages long or shorter (before backtracking) and confusing the Declaration of Independence with the Constitution.

Three months ago, ThinkProgress wrote: “As the Republican presidential nomination process begins, one GOP candidate is making a name for himself as the Islamophobia candidate: Herman Cain.” Yesterday, ThinkProgress’ Scott Keyes followed up by adding: “Unfortunately, we are seeing just how true that prediction was.”

http://thinkprogress.org/progress-report/meet-herman-cain/

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