The Herman Cain Editorial

What is one to make of Herman Cain? What does he represent? Or even more importantly, who does he speak for? Should we move beyond his history and his skin color to understand the philosophy he embodies? What is his philosophy anyway? Does he honestly believe that he has a chance to be President of the United States of America or is he just making a pitch for his book and maybe, for a show on the Fox News Network? If he is considered the anti Romney, why is he not considered the Obama Killer? What is it about Herman Cain that seems to get people boiling?

There are so many questions about this 60 something year old Black Man. He is interesting from the same perspective that we found Colin Powell interesting. He is dignified and he is like the good and successful Uncle everyone in the family aspires to be like. But does his eloquence and apparent success give him the actual stones to be President? Again, these questions are meant to frame the actual issue on the table: Is Herman Cain the one? Can he save his ‘people’ from the pending doom that Obama represents? Is he the angry black man America has been waiting for?

It is the opinion of this newspaper that Herman Cain is all those things. Of course, many people of color may look at him as a spoiler – I mean he is running against another brother – and white people may look at him as the kind of person to perfectly put Obama in his place; and also relieve them of the fingers pointing at them as racist. Herman Cain could be the Giant Killer. He could be David to the Evil Democrat Goliath. He could be the answer the Republicans have been waiting for.

On the other hand, we could compare him to Edward William Brooke, III – the former attorney general of Massachusetts. Of course, Cain and Brooke have so much in common. First, they are both Republicans. Then, they are both black. They were both in the army – although Cain worked as an analyst for the navy; never seeing combat while Brooke rose to be a Captain in the United States Army.

But why do we compare Cain to Brooke and not to Obama? Does Cain not warrant comparison with America’s first Black President? Not really. His juxtaposition is better suited to Brooke because this man broke the ranks and was the first African American to be voted to the United States Senate; the only person of African heritage sent to the Senate in the 20th century until Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1993, and was the last Republican Senator elected from Massachusetts until the 2010 election of Scott Brown. He is also the only African American reelected to the Senate. On his own, Herman Cain is running for the American presidency on the Republican ticket at a time of very difficult post era and post kumbaya conservative vs. progressive polarities. Then, the GOP is going through some kind of revolution and internal strife because of the Tea Party Movement. Herman Cain is also boosted by Tea Party support. But unlike Alan Keyes,the first African-American candidate to run in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, Herman Cain seems to have struck a nerve with the Republican primary voters. They actually like him and he is, at least as at last week, a serious contender against front runners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

And that is why we bring in Senator Brooke. Brooke was popularly elected senator in a state that was 97% white at a time of such violent, virulent and virile civil discourse, disruption and transformation. This was the civil rights era and black people were not necessarily looked upon with much more than a spit and a shine. In comparison, the Tea Party, in Herman Cain’s time, is raising some really ugly mastheads in a time when an African American is President. The Tea Party hates Obama. The Republicans HATE Obama – and they can hardly wait to throw everything at him – including the kitchen sink with Herman Cain in it – in the general election. Of course, one would wonder why they’d not throw the very presidential Romney at Obama. That they’d think that Cain has a chance against Obama makes a casual observer think: ‘These White People are Crazy!’

Lastly, while we speak of Herman Cain, there’s no doubt that this man is all heart and soul. People like that. Besides, like Obama, he is very likable. He does not sound like a politician and just wings it. He speaks from the heart. He is, obviously, very accomplished – he has a graduate degree in something related to analysis and computers and served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of Kansas. These things are not easy to get into – especially if you are from a poor background. And like we said earlier, he is such a dignified fellow! But what is it that we do not seem to fully appreciate about Cain? Is there a chance that in the time of Obama, you have to be as complete as the man you are running against? We still do not know. And on that note, we will wait by the roadside and watch the internal workings of a party that seems to be driving by a little too fast, a little too slow and a little too up and down. We can only hope that Herman Cain has his seat belt on.

Dennis Matanda,
Editor