Posted by
Steve on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 11:19:55 AM
The wheels came off the Cain campaign yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. Herman Cain was sitting before a review board of the local newspaper and answering questions about whatever the newspaper asked him. He was asked if he agreed with Barack Obama on his policy toward Libya. The next couple of minutes reminded me of the 53 second debate performance by Rick Perry. It was an easy question that anyone who keeps up with the news should be able to answer handily.
On the Barry Young show this morning, they are declaring the Herman Cain campaign dead because of this mistake. It may not be dead, but it is definitely on life support after not being able to answer such an easy question.
Everyone has brain freeze from time to time. You get up to go to the kitchen and when there, cannot remember why you went to the kitchen. That is why Rick Perry’s gaffe and now Herman Cain’s gaffe make them human. The problem with the mistakes Rick Perry and Herman Cain have made is that they were made on a public stage. That makes them worse than the normal brain freeze that people get.
What both campaigns have to do is work to restore the image of the candidate as knowledgeable about the issues. Rick Perry needs to make his point from the debate frequently in speeches. Herman Cain now needs to speak forcibly about how he would have handled Libya differently than Barack Obama. If they are successful in getting their points across, then people will tend to forgive them for having a brain freeze. Rick Perry has the bigger problem in that his brain freeze was on national TV. Herman Cain was just before an editorial review board on a not for prime time camera. That is why Herman Cain will have an easier time getting over this huge hump he put in his path.
In polling, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are now the front runners. Herman Cain has dropped to third. Newt’s rise is directly tied to the losses by Herman Cain. Romney’s support has remained relatively constant since polling started on this campaign.
The campaign season has seen one candidate take a run at Romney after another. Each one reaches the top and becomes the front runner. Media scrutiny then takes over and the candidate starts to fade. After a while, the candidate is back in the lower tier of candidates. The only one that has remained at or near the top since the beginning is Mitt Romney. The problem with Mitt Romney is that he does not energize the base like these other candidates can. The problem with the other candidates is that they do not seem to have staying power. Staying power is needed if you are going to take on an incumbent at any level.
I am not sure if this finishes Herman Cain as a candidate. The Democrats threw the bimbo stories at him and it had no effect. This may or may not be fatal politically. Time will tell, but right now it does not look good for the Herman Cain campaign.