AGAINST THE ODDS: Herman Cain (right) with his competition at CNN's GOP debate on June 13. Can his candidacy be taken seriously? (Newscom photo)
Presidential candidate Herman Cain apologized to a journalist for losing his cool at a press conference Saturday night, Politico’s James Hohmann reported.
At the presser, Cain “sought to clarify his stance on hiring Muslims to work in the federal government, defended his decision not to sign an anti-abortion pledge and pushed back on reports that he does not sufficiently support gun rights,” the report said.
Cain snapped at a “Talking Points Memo” reporter for pressing him on his views about hiring Muslims. On his refusal to sign Susan B. Anthony List’s anti-abortion pledge, Cain said the pledge commits the president to advance anti-abortion legislation and that is the job of congress, Hohmann reported.
Elsewhere on the Cainiac media trail this week:
Cain sells himself not as a politician, but as a businessman who turned Godfather’s Pizza around in 14 months when he became CEO, Tim Jones reported at Businessweek.
“Cain’s oft-told tale of how he rescued Godfather’s is kind to its hero and notable for what it leaves out,” Jones wrote.
Cain earned cheers at his introductory meeting with franchise owners in 1986, but then closed 20 percent of the company’s 640 restaurants, fired 300 to 400 people, and left with less than 600 restaurants operating, rather than expanding the chain to more than 1,000 as he had promised, Jones reported.
One wonders how Cain’s faith informed his business decisions.
He didn’t talk about that in his interview with Christianity Today a few months ago, but he quoted scripture and talked about spiritual experiences that inspired him to run for the presidency at a Faith & Freedom Coalition conference earlier this month, according to The Hill.
“[Cain] cited his desire to ‘make this world a better world’ for his grandchildren, as well as his struggle with cancer five years ago,” the report said.
Meanwhile, pundits debated Cain’s June 13 statement to Jeffrey Goldberg of Bloomberg View that he doesn’t want to be called an “African American.”
“I don’t use African American, because I’m American, I’m black and I’m conservative. I don’t like people trying to label me. African American is socially acceptable for some people, but I am not some people.” Cain told Goldberg.
He also said President Obama was raised in Kenya, a statement comedian Reggie Brown turned into a tea party joke at the Republican Leadership Conference Saturday night.
“Cain wants to be taken seriously in this race. He has said some very unserious things — his proposal to build a moat between the U.S. and Mexico and fill it with alligators comes to mind — but his resume is not that of a mere curiosity candidate. He has been a corporate CEO, a chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and president of the National Restaurant Association. He has created jobs in the private sector. He is affable, charismatic and funny, qualities not found in abundance in the current field of candidates,” Goldberg concluded.
Andrew Wilkes thinks Herman Cain’s candidacy is good for America. What do you think? Is Herman Cain a viable candidate or is his campaign already derailed?