"You mean killing immigrants doesn't seal the deal with conservatives?" (Eric Thayer/Reuters)
When first in the race, I wrote about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's
problems with the Right, and they bore out. His boomlet was derailed by his insufficient hatred of brown people.
With Herman Cain, however, I expected no such problems. He seemed to check off all the right boxes, a perfect ideological package. But alas, I was wrong. And after his abortion comments over the last several days, the floodgates have opened, with conservatives attacking him over the following issues:
ABORTION
He's all over the map on the issue, but he's already betrayed libertarian tendencies on the issue, and social conservatives are livid.
GAY RIGHTS
While saying homosexuality is a "sin", Cain has been unwilling to pledge government force to eradicate the evil of being gay.
[O]n gay marriage, he appears indistinguishable from Libertarian Rep. Ron Paul. Cain has refused to sign the Pro-Marriage Pledge, refused to support the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment, and has “Unknown stances” on every other issue the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) scores, other than defense of the Defense of Marriage Act, which every GOP candidate is on record supporting.
And there's this:
MR. GREGORY: A couple more. Same sex marriage. Would you seek a constitutional ban for same sex marriage?
MR. CAIN: I wouldn't seek a constitutional ban for same sex marriage, but I am pro traditional marriage.
The so-called "FREEDOM!" party isn't happy unless they're forcing their freedom-y morality on the rest of us. Cain clearly has libertarian impulses on this issue, like abortion, but that's not good enough for the GOP primary electorate.
And do you know that—gasp!—he wouldn't discriminate based on sexual orientation?
Then just 20 minutes later during his press conference, he told a blogger from a local political website he would have “absolutely no problem” hiring an openly gay person to serve on his Washington cabinet should he be the elected. This after he repeatedly said that one of the most important things a leader can do is to surround himself with good people. Does Cain thinks surrounding himself with those who violate God’s law (which Cain said was the ultimate law) and don’t believe in marriage is surrounding himself with good people?
FOREIGN POLICY
Cain won no friends when he said he'd be willing to negotiate with terrorists. And the neocons are angry that he doesn't even know they exist.
When pressed for answers today on Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, the best Cain could do was to repeat his mantra that he would consult experts and then figure it out. Which is to say, he knows he hasn’t a clue but hopes no one will care. Durng the program, Cain admitted he had no familiarity with the neoconservative movement. While being a subscriber to COMMENTARY isn’t a requirement for the presidency, that someone running for that office has not even heard the term suggests Cain is not only bereft of foreign policy experience, he apparently has never even read much about it.
AUDITING THE FED
The teabaggers want an audit of the Fed. Cain, a former director at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, thinks that's stupid.
I think a lot of people are calling for this audit of the Federal Reserve because they don’t know enough about it. There’s no hidden secrets going on in the Federal Reserve, to my knowledge, and I tell people, we’ve got twelve Federal Reserve banks, find out which district you’re in, call ‘em up and go from there!
GUNS
Cain seems to have a genuine belief in the power of states to manage their own affairs. But again, that's not truly a popular, and particularly not when it comes to gun control.
BLITZER: How about gun control?
CAIN: I support the 2nd amendment.
B: So what’s the answer on gun control?
C: The answer is I support, strongly support, the 2nd amendment. I don’t support onerous legislation that’s going to restrict people’s rights in order to be able to protect themselves as guaranteed by the 2nd amendment.
B: Should states or local government be allowed to control guns, the gun situation, or should…
C: Yes
B: Yes?
C: Yes.
B: So the answer is yes?
C: The answer is yes, that should be a state’s decision.
TARP
Cain supported it. Nuff said.
In their desperation to find a new anti-Romney, conservatives rushed over to Cain. But after his abortion "gaffe", those conservatives are taking a much closer look at Cain and not liking what they see. The Cain boomlet is now likely over.
Rick Santorum, you're up!
Update: TAXES
King Norquist doesn't like 9-9-9:
“It doesn’t create new possibilities for growth,” Norquist added [talking about Cain's tax plan]. “Look, I applaud Herman Cain’s statement that the present system is too high, it’s too re-distributionist, it moves money from one side to another, let’s take rates radically down, let’s end this double- and triple-taxation of savings. But the way he does it creates these new taxes like a VAT [value-added tax] and a retail sales tax that have a dangerous history of growing.”
