Charges Against Cain Cannot Be Ignored

by Dean Stephens - October 30th, 2011

Herman Cain supporters keep repeating his claim he is an American success story. Yet they seemingly ignore his actual history with that claim. Cain is a success. The question is, just how much of that “success” did he earn on his own and is it really the “Horatio Alger story most would like to, or are being led to believe?

During the late 70s and the 80s, Herman Cain was an employee of big consumer corporations, starting with Coca Cola. He was not an entrepreneur. He didn’t take any risks with his own capital. Affirmative action had recently become the law of the land. Big corporations were under pressure to prove they were complying. True conservatives have never accepted the premise of affirmative action, that you can reach equality by suppressing the rights of others by government edict. Yet Herman Cain defends affirmative action to this day. He received a lifetime achievement award for promoting ‘diversity’ in the food services industry. You have to wonder why. You also have to wonder why mention of this award has been removed from his web sites.

His actual track record in business indicates some possible explanations. Cain went from an entry level analyst position to top management in one decade. He was made what would normally be called a regional manager by Burger King. He was then made manager of a small subsidiary by Pillsbury. Would Cain’s rocket to the top have happened without the special treatment and considerations given him as a result of affirmative action?

Herman Cain did not build Godfather's Pizza. He was made manager of an existing organization within a large corporation and given a staff and title. The parent company soon spun it off as they often do with subsidiaries that offer little upside potential. Cain did not grow the business while he ran it as a subsidiary or after it was spun off. He made it more profitable by closing restaurants and firing several thousand employees. Cain then used that profit success as a stepping stone to run for public office and quit. That act itself was typical of an employee not an entrepreneur. In fact, many insiders do not consider Cain key to the turnaround. They tout Ronald Gartlin, who helped build the chain before Pillsbury bought it, was key to Cain’s efforts to return to profitability, replaced him on Cain's departure and continues to run the business today.

For the last 20 years Herman Cain has been active in politics. Although he has never won public office he and his supporters cannot realistically claim he is not a professional politician. He is!

Cain was appointed to the Federal Reserve board because he was a black businessman. He has absolutely no credentials in monetary, fiscal or economic policy that would justify the appointment. I cannot find any transcripts or video interviews of Cain discussing economic issues with any depth or breadth of insight. He talks in generalities. Details that require true knowledge are avoided. Cain is a sound bite candidate in a sound bite era. Even so, why is this experience considered a good thing? Many of our problems in economic mismanagement are directly attributable to board members like Cain rubber stamping disastrous Federal Reserve policies.

His supporters also give him a pass on his actions at Aquila, a corporation that invested employee retirement funds in its own stock. It then suffered huge losses. Cain was a director. What is a director supposed to do except make sure such things do not happen?

The latest questions to arise are accusations Cain sexually harassed two women while he was Chairman of the National Restaurant Association. I doubt these accusations are accurate. However the reactions by his supporters are curious. Cain's supporters do not want to know if they are true. They simply dismiss them as unfair attacks with total disinterest in whether there are any facts to substantiate or not. Aren't the charges serious enough to warrant some investigation? If you ask most of Cain’s supporters, their answer will be, “No!”

Here is something else to consider. Cain attended an all black college that is known for its cultural hatred for whites. Cain says he was too focused on his studies to notice the racism but you have to wonder about his choice of college. Cain still attends a black church that is only marginally less racist than Jeremiah Wright's church. Cain openly acknowledges his "church is still in the 'hood" but doesn't go further to denounce the racism that implies. Voters should demand more than another sound bite reply from Mr. Cain.

Here is something I and others have sadly found out recently:

If you criticize Herman Cain for anything you will be the one denigrated as racist. The enchantment with Herman Cain is curiously similar to the earlier adoration for General Colin Powell. Powell was never the conservative military genius he was proclaimed to be. Republicans were desperate to believe he was for reasons a psychologist would struggle to explain. Clear warning signs were ignored. Is that perception repeating itself with Cain?

Herman Cain has shown by his gaffes on foreign affairs that he is not prepared to lead our nation in the one area that can get us all killed. He never served in the military. He has shown no interest in our history or involvement in the world. He was so ignorant that he claimed to not know what 'neo conservative meant'. His trite dismissal of the need to understand foreign issues is an insult to voters. If you care about America how can Cain’s foreign policy naiveté not be a red flag?

At some point you have to stop and ask some serious questions about this man. Unfortunately the answers are being delayed because Herman Cain is treated differently. Cain will not allow the questions he is uncomfortable with to be addressed. Instead he dismisses concerns and changes the subject. Push him and you risk being verbally attacked.

In summary, voters actually know very little about Herman Cain except his personal interpretation of his own resume. This must end. The office of the Presidency is not an entry level position. People who forget that are making a huge mistake.