Yes We Cain!

Excuse my quasi-plagiarism, President Obama. I do so in a state of encouragement and real “hope” that there will soon be significant “change” in the grand old residence of 1600 Pennsylvania Drive.

You see, today, in a shocker whose significance most mainstream media outlets and possibly (ok, fine, LIKELY) even some GOP mainstays will try and discredit, businessman Herman Cain ran away with the Florida Straw Poll in a landslide victory of 37% of the vote. This comes in spite of the presence of such campaign heavyweights as Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, and Tea Party favorite Michelle Bachmann, who came in at a surprising 1% of the vote. Here is the official rundown:

Herman Cain: 37%

Rick Perry: 15%

Mitt Romney: 14%

Rick Santorum: 11%

Ron Paul: 10.5%

Newt Gingrich: 8%

Jon Hunstman: 2%

Michele Bachmann: 1%

Why is this local straw poll such a big deal? Historically, if you can pull off this straw poll win, you pull off the party nomination. This poll sits with several straw polls as being particularly important, but this one does indeed carry significant weight.

So what is it about this political unknown that’s got me so thrilled?

In a recent debate, Cain responded to a question in a way that I feel epitomizes the breath of fresh air a Herman Cain presidency would bring to our nation’s swamp-like capital. Incidentally, wasn’t Nancy Pelosi going to drain that swamp? Moving on. In reference to those people who maintain that he cannot implement his flat tax plan (see here) in Washington because he simply doesn’t know how Washington works, he replied “Yes I do! It doesn’t!” He went on into his answer and responded aptly, but I was left with such an impression of how perfectly those first few words expressed what’s wrong with this nation.  Our government is overgrown and malfunctioning, and in desperate need of repair, and along comes someone who finally understands this fundamental fact. Not someone who wants to keep a lot of the bulk while merely trimming around the edges of the fat, but rather someone who recognizes a need to return to the founding principles and work from them, not around and outside of them.

While Cain has never held elected office in the duration of his life (though he has held what most Americans would consider to be fairly hefty titles; among others, CEO of a major restaurant chain, Godfather’s Pizza) his common sense, everyday, non-beltway attitude towards Washington politics is reminiscent of the era that Ronald Reagan ushered into Washington three decades ago.  

I maintain that with the exception of a few current GOP candidates who I feel would be more comfortable with a D beside their names, any one of the candidates currently running would make a better president than the man who has done more damage to this nation than virtually any other president before him. (Don’t believe me? Check out our debt clock.)  I do plan on writing up a summary of each of the current candidates to make things a little easier to understand and ponder. However, if I could have my druthers….well….I think you all know who I’d hope to see in those teleprompter-less debates with President Obama.