So I’m going to say (write) what I’m not supposed to admit (at least publicly) as a black person. I have paid more attention to GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain because he is black. There I said (wrote) it! Pardon me that as a black person in this country, I still find it fascinating when black people rise to certain heights that would have been impossible not that long ago. So now that I have gotten that admission out of the way, let me proceed with the business of this commentary …
If you were to ask me to give you a blow-by-blow account of what high jinks other GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and others have been up to over recent weeks, I would pause and then hopefully distract you with my knowledge of what is becoming the spectacle of the Republican presidential campaign: Herman Cain.
Actually Cain, who lives in Atlanta as I do, has been on my radar even before he entered the presidential race. From time to time, I listened to him on his radio show because he was the lone black conservative on the local radio station, and when I looked up his bio, I must also admit that I was impressed. So when he decided to join the Republican race for the presidency, I felt that he was at least owed my attention as a hometown candidate.
And paying attention to Cain has not failed to disappoint me yet! From his admission that while he was a student at Morehouse College, he chose not to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement (even though Atlanta is arguably the capital of the movement) to his membership and ministry at the liberal megachurch Antioch Baptist Church to his 9-9-9 plan, Cain is a journalist’s dream. His life and choices yield a plethora of stories which brings me to why I’m paying attention to Cain this week.
Herman Cain
On Monday, Cain was backed into a corner, forced to defend himself before the National Press Club after Politico revealed that Cain was accused of sexually harassing two women while he was the president of the National Restaurant Association. He denied the allegations and attempted to downplay them by stating he was unaware of any settlement the women may have received. Apparently, after denying the allegations, the president of the National Press Club asked Cain, who is known as a singer as well, to bless the audience with a song. Cain agreed, choosing to belt out the gospel song “He Looked Beyond My Faults (And Saw My Need)” by Dottie Rambo.
“Amazing Grace will always be my song of praise.
For it was grace, that brought me liberty,
I do not know, just why He came to love me so.
He looked beyond my faults and saw my need.”
This incident disturbed me on so many levels. First of all, let me tackle the obvious. With his choice of song, was Cain not-so-subtlety admitting his guilt? Was the conviction of the Holy Spirit so strong that he was led to seek forgiveness through song? But then again, as a politician he wouldn’t be that obvious, would he? If that wasn’t what he was doing, was it some sort of Jedi mind trick — a ploy to mesmerize the audience, making them forget what they were there for? And, quite honestly, I also was disturbed that Cain’s singing in that particular situation reminded me of the Happy Negro singing on the plantation. It just wasn’t a good look.
Whatever his tactic, I’m still paying attention to Cain. It has been said that all publicity is good publicity, but I’m not sure as Cain is still being pressed about the sexual harassment issue. Since the press conference, Cain’s story has changed, and on Friday night his wife, Gloria Cain may be appearing on the On the Record with Greta Van Susteren on Fox to address the allegations. As I said (wrote) before, “Mr. Cain, it’s not looking too good this week, but I’m still looking at you …”
Yes, Cain initially got my attention because he is a black man in the GOP race, but that is not why he has kept my attention. Regardless of race, he’s the man you would want to talk to at any party, Republican or otherwise. He’s accomplished, controversial, maybe even a bit “coo coo for cocoa puffs” — and a gospel singer to boot!
Herman Cain photo by Gage Skidmore.
Well, he’s sung at other appearances both on and off the campaign trail and it reminds me of some of the old-school preachers who break into song after their sermon. I just wonder as an ordained minister, if he’s using that as a ploy. Typically, in some black churches, that is one technique to bring home the sermon and often people get pretty emotional (some warranted). Is he possibly relying on his skill as a preacher and thinking that this politics thing can’t be too much different? If so, I think he’s finding out differently. First of all, at some point, you have to come down off the podium from making eloquent speeches to deal with brass tacks. So far, he hasn’t done that well when trying to be pinned down on how he would handle specific issues as president. At some point, you have to leave the rhetoric behind and produce detailed, well-thought out responses. These reporters and other politicians are not pew-sitters content to be sung to happy. They will keep poking and prodding for answers until they are satisfied.
He also has not handled this harassment situation well so far with the way his answer has changed on multiple occasions. Someone should have informed him that his life would be an open book and helped to prep him on how to handle the allegations that would come his way. Although it is hard to remember something that happened 12 to 15 years ago, I think a claim of sexual harassment would rise to the level of something not to be forgotten.
I think you also may be right in that people may be enamored with him because he’s “different”. But again, you can only ride that gravy train for so long and then you need to produce some substance.
Well said Pat Pope! His song did seem like some ploy…I’m hoping that he won’t pull that again…if he has the opportunity…who can tell after this week….
It felt like a pimping Jesus moment to me 🙁
If you are running for public office, didn’t you know that this was in your past and could be brought to light?? I’m just tired of all the games that these politicians play, and we wonder why folks don’t wanna vote!!! Obama had nothing to do with the years of mis-management before him, but people still want to blame him because he is not fixin’ it fast enough!! CAIN SHUT UP & SIT DOWN!!
It’s ironic that Cain is now saying that he is a victim of racism when just a while ago he said racism isn’t a big deal…http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/09/herman-cain-racism_n_1002375.html