Keeping clear of any strings, Cain has '06 on his mind. And maybe 2010, too
Jim Galloway - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/15/04
Before we get to the meat of what you want to know about Herman Cain, it's worthwhile to examine his two new sound bites:
-"People aren't as dumb as some Democrats think."
-"Group think is out. 'You think' is in."
Both lines are aimed at African-Americans who give a great deal of thought to their 401(k)s, college funds, stock portfolios and interest rates.
In the four months since his thrashing in the Republican primary, Cain has squeezed more out of defeat than many a candidate has out of a victory. Perhaps even enough to wipe out the memory of $800,000 in personal cash that Cain, a millionaire entrepreneur, lost in the U.S. Senate race.
At the Republican National Convention, the African-American ex-candidate got more attention than Johnny Isakson, the man who beat him. The state GOP handed him a prominent fund-raising position that put him in touch with all the leaves of the Republican money tree.
More and more leaders of the GOP are realizing that a largely white party, while dominant today, won't survive tomorrow. Which makes it better and better to be Herman Cain.
Cain turns 59 next month and plans his life by the decade. He is a believer in the power of compound interest. And he's buoyed by the fact that exit polls showed President Bush's share of the black vote in Georgia increased from 9 to 11 percent.
"You're not going to see an avalanche overnight," Cain told us in a recent interview.
Still, it's telling that, just as an organization as venerable as the SCLC is fading, Cain's optimism is growing. The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza is betting on Georgia's black middle class, issue by self-interested issue.
"People will change their vote before they change their affiliation," he noted. In 1964, few African-Americans had reason to worry about an estate tax. That's no longer the case.
Cain thinks his Senate run, which displayed his ability to carve out a significant portion of the white vote, established his bona fides as a contender for the next decade. But he's been very cautious when it comes to what he intends to do next.
The Henry County resident has deflected suggestions that he might become the next chairman of the state GOP. He doesn't like the strings that would come with it. "I don't want to talk about all of the issues all of the time," he said. (Group think is out, remember?)
Nor does he think much of a run for Congress, where he'd be one of 435. And there are no current openings in the U.S. Senate. But Cain did acknowledge that a certain state senator - no name given - called him the day after his July primary loss to suggest an '06 run for lieutenant governor. Which could set him up for the 2010 race for governor.
Cain has made no commitments.
In the meantime, he's setting up a national issues group that would focus on tax cuts, Social Security and health care - and, not coincidentally, keep his national fund-raising network intact.
Cain, an advocate of a national sales tax, sees that issue being teed up in the next four years - and implemented after Bush leaves office. "This is the best chance in our history of doing it," he said. Cain - a longtime member of the GOP's anti-tax faction who enthralled the party's anti-abortion forces this summer - thinks the Internal Revenue Service will disappear before Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Watch out if Cain adds the topic of education to the mix. That's a tip-off.
"That would be my lead topic if I were to run for state office," he said.
Published by North Star Writers
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