Oct 18 2011
Salute To Anderson Cooper – Cain Rises Above The Fray
First off, I am a political animal covering decades of the inside Beltway BS and I tip my hat to Anderson Cooper. For the most part, Anderson tried to give every candidate time on all issues, tried to give each candidate a chance to respond. He was excellent as a moderator (more please). Anderson teed up the question without any gotcha and passed it to the candidate to respond as they wished.
Excellent job Cooper.
Now, who won? No one really. If Cain had to prove he was for real and the rest had to hold their place – Cain succeeded. The attacks on 9-9-9 where pathetic. If you can’t realize the federal income and payroll taxes are replaced by a flat 9% income and 9% sales tax, you shouldn’t even vote. If I can trade 24% on my income for 9% on my income and 9% on new purchases count me in I do not spend 100% of my income on new products – therefore 9% incomes tax plus something like 70% of 9% sales (e.g., 6.3%) comes to 15.3%. Because the 9% sale tax is totally under my control as a consumer, unlike my income and payroll taxes as an employee. I DO NOT spend 100% of my income on sales tax (no one does). Everyone gets this – or better.. 15.3 is less than 24, last time I checked.
Cain is holding his own. Gingrich has proven he needs to be White House Chief of Staff, and other candidates could have some role in a Cain administration – but none of them represent the bold change voters want.
Herman Cain had the loudest applause. Romney’s groupies were the usual 23% of the audience – applauding alone. Romney lost a lot of ground, if not just for getting into bickering contests with Perry.
Ron Paul imploded. He attacked Reagan in the midst of his usual random ramblings. Kiss his candidacy good-bye. If we are looking for reparations for freedom (Iraq and Afghanistan) then we must begin with Germany and the EU, then look to Japan and South Korea. Then Yugoslavia and the Iron Curtain Nations. Then we can talk to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Santorum and Bachman: close but not there. We need to get those who get 60% of the way and fall short out of the mix. That means everyone but Cain, Perry, Romney and Ginrgrich. These two need to bow out.
But Cain not only survived, he won Palin’s first mention in her post debate commentary. He is not Robamaney. Romney has RomneyCare and Global Warming hanging around his neck. And Perry screwed up with in state tuition for illegal aliens. We don’t need to settle for less as long as Cain hangs in there and gives libertarian, tea party conservatives and independents a real choice.
I agree Anderson did a good job it was still an attempt to get the candidates to attack each other but perhaps thats as it should be in the primaries, we all can agree, I think, anyone but Obama.
The first rule of free enterprise and capitalism is competition is good.
Steel sharpens steel!
On the wrestling mats we say you have to compete against the best to be able to beat the best.
There will be plenty of time to take the fight to the Lyin kING after the primaries are decided. That said Perry and Santorums thin skinned assault on Romney did more to diminish them than him.
Cain Newt and Romney won by staying above the ankle biters.
I think Cains plan, using a dynamic analysis method will do the most for the country. The idea that the sales tax is easily raised is a red herring raised by those too lazy or inarticulate to promote their own alternatives.
The current system is changed yearly picking winners and losers and making long term financial planning a roll of the dice.
My real fear is that Obama will refuse to debate our candidate, after all there’s not much positive for him to run on other than killing Jihadis and American citizens from 10,000 feet.
I completely agree with you AJ. Herman Cain was bait at the begininng but held his ground. I just fear the barrage of attacks on his plan left people confused. I also don’t think his mis-spoken gaffe on releasing Gitmo detainees will damage him. I think he will get the benefit of the doubt from the public on this, but he has to be more careful from here on out. I don’t think he was damaged and perhaps may even rise in the polls as he was highlighted tonight and for many people this was their first time being introduced to Cain.
I also agree that Michelle Bachman and Santorum should bow out. It is getting to be time for that. Newt will rise in the polls after this. I’m not sure how much.
I also agree that Perry and Romney may have hurt themselves from the bickering, angry, personal attacks. It got ugly and unprofessional from both sides. Low blows. I think Perry got hurt the most though. He went charging in like a bull trying to make up for past debates and came off as an ass. Anyway, I think his problem from the get-go is that he reminds people of Bush.
Oh yeah, and props to Cooper too.
Were we watching the same debate? You really think Cain did a good job with 999? And does anyone realize that his plan works to eventually have a value added tax on EVERYTHING of 30%? wow. (that’s from his web site) If you’ve read my comments on other posts, there is absolutely no way 999 sails through. It raises taxes too much, especially in the case of retired people. As I said a little while ago, I’ve already paid taxes on the money I get in retirement when there was an income tax and no sales tax, with the plan, I’d now have to pay the sales taxes on money I paid it(income tax) on years ago.
Tho, I will admit, we don’t really know what the 999 plan is, Cain’s site only minimally mentions it and gives a little outline, not nearly anything anyone can work with. It is not productive of him to talk about apples and oranges, people are interested in dollars and cents and how much more he expects them to pay.
Newt has clearly moved into the class of the field category, Cain will end up as a footnote in history. (As I strongly suspect Romney will also) Newt definitely has his faults, but at least he understands what the world is about and would mop the floor with Obama in a debate.
Cain’s comment about Gitmo prisoners will definitely hurt him, it already has.
I watched Sarah’s comments on Greta afterward and she clearly is in Newt’s camp. Maybe he can get her for VP. That would be a winning combination we could all feel good about.
I don’t have anything good to say about either CNN or Anderson Cooper, they are the enemy and will do all they can to torpedo any Republican.
I thought Cain and Gingrich did the best. Romney and Perry going at each other didn’t give either one of them any points. Cain handled the 999 attacks well considering the complexity of a tax overhaul and having 30 seconds to discuss it at a clip. Anderson Cooper did well.
I think Americans give Cain a lot of credit for putting a bold plan out there. I also think most Americans know his plan will have to be tweeked. His support comes from the boldness of his ideas and the way he will fight for them. There is aleady some talk from one of the architects of his plan that it may be easier to go to a flat tax because Americans have an aversion to the added sales tax even though it works out better. Either way, I am glad we are having that conversation. We need a total overhaul.
Cain made a huge mistake when talking about the Israeli prisoner exchange. He was quick to correct the statement. He said he mispoke (or didn’t understand the question) or something. However, the question was clear and his answer was clear.
Foreign policy is the area that will get him in trouble. He handled it well when it came up during the debate and in the after the debate interview.
That being said…..I don’t know what he was thinking when he made that statement. It’s such a no brainer. I guess it is because he is a businessman and not a politician. The business mind never rules out any consideration. The political mind knows there are policies and norms you don’t cross.
At the end of the day, I think people will overlook it.
Too many of these types of mistatements will hurt him. But, for now, I think it will roll off.
Redstate Blog gives him a pass for slightly different reason (considering the context of the discussion):
http://www.redstate.com/jeff_emanuel/2011/10/18/herman-cain-gilad-shalit-and-emptying-gitmo-in-exchange-for-one-captive-soldier/
if I recall, Cain said that he would trade every prisoner in Guantanamo for one American soldier. That’s a pretty big blunder, his hope is just that it won’t get too much attention. He really needs to learn to exercise what the military calls fire control with regards to his mouth.
Perry finally came alive, don’t know if it was enough. If he’d been that sharp from the start then this race would be quite different now. It was nice to finally see Romney lose his composure.
So Cain has got to be carefull. He has made two idiotic comments now that have meaning only to walk them back a day later.
Electric Fence.
Release all the GTMO detainees.
I know he is not a professional Pol and all. But, he cannot/will not be given a pass on such things in a General Election. Frankly I am not sure which is worse, making the comment or having to back off. To make it worse he said the GTMO comment was a joke.