Herman Cain Is Out

By Zach Foster
 
Earlier today, in the face of more and more developments in the Ginger White affair on top of many allegations of sexual harassment by various women, the pressure mounted to a force unbearable and Herman Cain suspended his Presidential campaign.  In a statement, Cain said that these allegations (which he still denies) are hurting his wife, his family, his candidacy, and America “because you’re being denied solutions to our problems.[1]”   In the midst of this crisis for the Cain camp, his chief grass roots supporters have already formed a plan and followed up on it: they are supporting Ron Paul, with many Cain supporters joining en masse even though their original champion has yet to endorse a candidate.
 
The heads of Herman Cain Forums have already made a statement as to why they’re supporting Ron Paul, namely that “Ron Paul was the only candidate that actually had remorse for how the media treated Herman Cain and the alleged affairs” and that they “will always thank him for showing respect in that nature.”[2]  This makes perfect sense, and many of Congressman Paul’s supporters are happy that he was so adamant about focusing only on the erroneous portions of Cain’s platform and NOT his personal life.  One thing that remains ironic is how many Democrats were ready to pounce on Cain as soon as allegations of sexual harassment arose, even though when Bill Clinton was faced with the possibility of impeachment over the Lewinsky scandal, their camp was shouting for America to focus on the issues and not the personal life of their champion.  It is only fair to say that Republicans who pounced on Clinton for his affair are equally hypocritical as the pro-Clinton Democrats who pounced on Cain.  Ron Paul pounced on neither, and it’s refreshing for people both in the Cain and Paul camps to know that a candidate in this day and age could still be a gentleman and focus on hard facts of politics and economics rather than the issues.
 
Herman Cain Forums is now a pro-Ron Paul website and its floodgates are open to the Paul camp.  Articles on the Daily Paul have also appeared in which Paul supporters lament how the media zeroed in on Cain’s personal life and scandals rather than on the issues, and warmly invite Cain supporters into the Paul camp.  “…So welcome.  We commend you because many Republicans have been reluctant to rethink America's foreign policy (think Glenn Beck or Bill O'Reilly or Sean Hannity) and it has been frustrating because they won't allow the discussion to get too deep.”[3] 
 
Some Cain supporters have flocked to Gingrich—the last bastion of [phony] conservatism (Romney being the poster boy for the moderates)—but they are not joined by the majority of their former allies.  Many Cain supporters know that both Gingrich[4] and Romney[5] are well known for their flip flopping on key issues.  Furthermore, many Cain supporters are silently resentful as to how Gingrich has suffered no repercussions in his campaign over his history of adultery, while growing allegations of an extramarital affair pushed their own champion out of the race.  Thus, Herman Cain supporters are now in favor of Ron Paul.
 
Congressman Paul released an official statement regarding Cain’s campaign suspension: “Herman Cain brought energy and enthusiasm to the Republican nominating process, as well as a unique perspective on many domestic issues important to voters such as tax code reform and a pro-growth agenda favorable to the private sector.  In light of his suspension of campaign activities, I want to wish Herman success in his future endeavors.”
From the point of view of a grass roots activist, it is fantastic to see how Cain and Paul supporters are connecting over social media to combine their strategies, talents, and efforts towards getting Ron Paul elected.  Such a union of forces will also prove to be exceptionally beneficial to Ron Paul in the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary election.




Cain photo by Gage Skidmore. Ron Paul photo in the public domain.  Both obtained from Wikimedia Commons.
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[1] The Rise and Fall of Herman Cain. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-12-03/herman-cain-suspends-campaign/51619408/1
[2] Now that Herman Cain has dropped out of the race my new candidate is Ron Paul. http://www.hermancainforums.com/index.php/topic,1824.0.html
[3] Welcome Former Herman Cain supporters!  Daily Paul. http://www.dailypaul.com/190302/welcome-former-herman-cain-supporters
[4] Newt Gingrich: Serial Hypocrisy. Ron Paul campaign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWKTOCP45zY
[5] Which Mitt? Democratic National Committee. www.whichmitt.com
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Support Our Troops: The Hypocrisy of So-Called Patriots

By Zach Foster
 
Many conservatives at this stage of the campaign cycle agree that they like the majority of Ron Paul’s platform, yet they disagree with him completely on foreign policy.  Some of them periodically muster the courage to call his foreign policy naïve.  Those who dislike him completely will condescendingly call him a lunatic in the face of anyone they suspect to be a Ron Paul supporter.  These “enlightened” conservatives are so self-righteous and wrapped up in their elevated opinion of their star-spangled selves—and their preferred flip-flopping candidate—that their opinion on maintaining the militarist status quo, infallible as they see it, is so correct that it doesn’t even warrant an intellectual defense, least of all to those no-good dumb-dumb “Paulbots.”  Periodically however, there arise a few who have a sense of honor and decency that are willing to at least defend their ideas with a logical argument.  All of the above, though, are people who claim to “support the troops.”
 
In light of their claim, it is necessary to analyze who the troops themselves are supporting.  The easiest way to find out is not by straw polls, which can be faulty at times when considering the participating sample of the population, but rather by looking at the way the troops are literally putting their money where their mouth is.  As of September 30, 2011 President Obama has received over $68,000 in monetary campaign donations from active duty troops.  The candidate trailing him is Mitt Romney with a distant $11,000, and for the rest of the candidates the numbers only go down from there.  All of their donations from the troops combined with Obama’s come out to $106,266.  Many of these Republican military donors would be content to vote for any Republican candidate in November 2012 just to get rid of our incumbent President.
 
And now for the pressing question: How much money has Congressman Paul raised from active duty troops?  $112,739, not counting the various money bombs that would come in October and November.  The numbers clearly show that Ron Paul garnishes more support from America’s fighting sons and daughters—the true patriots who currently risk life and limb for the country—than all of the opposition combined.  No one is in a position to be more fully and painfully aware of the consequences of America’s militant foreign policy than those troops whose job it is to literally fight wars and terrorism, as well as “keep the peace” around the world.  The vast majority of troops—endangered enough by foolish civilian policy makers that they awoke and joined the political process—clearly wish to abide by the noninterventionist (not isolationist) foreign policy of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
 
Yet the so-called “patriots” who disagree with and/or scorn Paul’s noninterventionist ideas are convinced that he is incorrect, naïve, or just plain crazy.  These are the people who most ardently proclaim their support for the troops, yet by writing off Dr. Paul’s idea of bringing the troops home from around the world they also write off the opinions and experience-based beliefs of the very troops they claim to support.  These warhawks all have one thing in common: their idea of “supporting our troops” rests with slapping a yellow bumper sticker on their car and occasionally sending a box of cookies to Kandahar Airfield rather than actually heeding the passionate cries from those who wear the uniform and bleed for the stars and stripes.  This is the ultimate form of hypocrisy for so-called patriots and it is unacceptable.  Every servicemember as well as discharged veterans from the decade-long war on terror ought to call these warhawks on their sickening hypocrisy.
 
Perhaps the most hardline warhawks will never be able to change their minds; they have already drunk the kool aid of staunch ultraconservatism and are long gone.  However, this is not true for the majority of conservatives who are intelligent critical thinkers.  After all, they love Ron Paul’s non-socialist economic and domestic policies, yet they disagree with his foreign policies.  They also claim that they support the troops, regardless of the overbearing contradiction in their words and logic.  The day these conservatives will truly demonstrate their support for America’s military heroes will be the day they honestly listen to them and vote for the man the troops overwhelmingly champion: Ron Paul.


Grass roots image courtesy of the Daily Paul.
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