Herman, Herman He’s Our Man?

I have to admit that I never expected a black person would become president of the United States in my lifetime.  When Barack Obama announced he was running for president I figured he’d make a little noise early on and then Hilary Clinton would overwhelm him.  Imagine my shock when he started to pull away for Hilary while all the other Spineless Democrats© fell by the wayside.  Flash forward a few years and now another black man appears to be a serious candidate for president.  And this time he’s a Republican.  Color me even more shocked then the last time.

There have been black Republicans (no not Nas and Jay-Z) in the past that have made a go of running for president but nobody takes Alan Keyes seriously; even Alan’s mom didn’t vote for him.  Now the former pizza executive/Federal Reserve Board Member/radio personality/cancer survivor, Herman Cain is actually a front runner.

Being the political masochist that I am I’ve watched just about every Republican debate.  At first Herm was the crazy uncle in the corner that nobody paid attention to.  You know the one that as long as you keep a cold beer in his hand you won’t hear a thing from him.  But the second he finishes that beer be ready for his skewed commentary on the world.  But as other Republican candidates faded crazy Uncle Herman climbed in the polls and actually won a meaningless straw poll.

The Hermanator, as he strangely calls himself, owes much of his early success to his DOA 9-9-9 plan.  I’m not an economist or a tax expert so I’m not going to attempt to explain the plan.  Just know it basically shifts a tremendous tax burden onto poor families.  I know we can can’t tax the job creators and all for fear they’ll stop creating all the jobs they’ve been creating over the last ten years but Uncle Herm’s plan is just foolishness and likely unworkable based on what I’ve read about it.  Not only will poor people suffer it’ll underfund the government which I suspect is part of Cain’s appeal in some quarters.

My theory is that Crazy Uncle Herm never thought he’d become a serious candidate.  Otherwise he would have never introduced that indefensible 9-9-9 plan.  Now he’s asked to defend it, and well, it isn’t pretty folks.  In the last Republican debate his foes piled on and Crazy Uncle Herman introduced a bizarre fruit-based defense of his plan.  When he finished babbling I didn’t understand his 9-9-9 plan any better but I really wanted an orange.

As the spotlight on Uncle Herm gets brighter we’re exposed some of his more, let’s say interesting, views on race and poverty in America.  Crazy Uncle Herm’s position in response to the Occupy Wall Street movement that it’s the protesters fault that they don’t have jobs and aren’t rich is just insane. I don’t want or expect black person to move in lock step in regards to racial and political issues.   It would make for a very boring world.  But are black people really  afraid to wake up and stuck on the Democrats political plantation?   Why can’t black voters just feel  a certain political party better speaks to the wants, needs and interests of black Americans?  I’m glad there are voices from all over the political spectrum representing black people but I always wonder why the conservative voices tend to be so condescending.

As you can probably tell I’m having a hard time with Herman Cain, Presidential Candidate.    Given Cain’s proclaimed ignorance of international issues, lack of fundraising and organization in key primary and caucus states, it’s hard not to see his campaign as a grand scheme to sell books, boost the profile of his radio show and increase his speaker fees.  Naw, Crazy Uncle Herm wouldn’t do that, would he?

Tagged Alan Keyes, Barack Obama, Democrats, Herman Cain, Occupy Wall Street, Republicans