The Republican National Committee recently conducted an?online straw poll?identifying 32 candidates who could get its nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Each of the 32 has quite a questionable history, though, that contrasts with the GOP’s consistent claim of it being the ?moral? option for voters.
Philander, racism, thievery, bribery, and combinations of these and other?sins?are?found across the slate, in fact.?In this series on the 32 potential candidates (updated every other day), Liberal America will offer a quick rundown on the hypocrisy clouding each one’s ?holier than thou? claims.
Herman Cain
2012 presidential candidate
Despite the fact that Herman Cain?proposed raising taxes on the lower 84 percent of income earners in the U.S., the former CEO of Godfather Pizza briefly led all other Republican presidential candidates in polls prior to the 2012 primary races. Until news of extramarital affairs and multiple claims of sexual harassment came out, that is. One of the incidents even alleged Cain demanded sex in exchange for hiring a female applicant.
Cain first became publicly known in 1993, when he challenged Pres. Clinton to debate on a national health plan, and in which Cain consistently made false claims of high costs upon small businesses. Using his new notoriety earned from the debate, he became senior economic advisor to Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, and even entered the 2000 race as a Republican candidate, although only for a brief run before endorsing Steve Forbes. A pitiful performance in a 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate, in which he lost the primary, didn’t hold him back from his run for higher office in 2012.
In that last election bid, Cain described his ?9-9-9? tax proposal as ?expanding the base,? which in a nutshell means that he wanted more people ? poverty, specifically ? to pay more in taxes, and by replacing income tax with a national sales tax. The upper-income would pay substantially less under the plan, of course.
If he does run in 2016, Cain will have to work to make himself known again; a recent Jeopardy! tournament asked an easy question about him, but none of the contestants could recall his name. (See video below.)?If he’ll be remembered for anything at all, it might be for his strange ?smoking man? ad used in the 2012 campaign, which got national attention not for its quality, but for the comical parodies the silly video inspired.
He might have to run under another party’s banner, too. After the 2012 presidential election, Cain criticized the GOP, calling for a ?legitimate third party? that would exclude??Ron Paulites.?
Visit Liberal America for future updates on?the other?GOP 2016 hopefuls.
What’s your take on these?hypocritical Republicans? State your case on?Liberal America’s Facebook?page.
See previous posts on GOP 2016 hopefuls:
Kelly Ayotte ? Haley Barbour ? ?John Bolton ? ?Jeb Bush
