After his latest debate disaster, it is difficult to view Rick Perry as the leading standard-bearer for Tea Party and social conservatives in the Republican presidential race. Though his massive war chest may enable him to go on campaigning, his inability to present himself as a plausible alternative dooms any hope he might have had for a comeback. But if Perry can’t win, who will the right look to in a last-ditch effort to stop the Mitt Romney juggernaut?
The polls say the most likely candidate for displaced conservatives to embrace is Herman Cain. Cain was, after Romney, the focus of the most attention at last night’s debate in New Hampshire. Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann skewered his 9-9-9-tax scheme, but Cain kept his cool and left the stage undaunted. Most polls show Cain in second place behind Romney, and with Perry fading fast, his numbers may well increase. But the rise of the former Godfather Pizza executive is more a confirmation of the inevitability of Romney than a sign Cain has a realistic chance of being nominated.
The New Hampshire debate illustrated all of Cain’s strengths even as it showed up Perry’s weakness. Cain is glib and utterly unflappable. The other candidates punched holes in his vaunted tax plan you could drive a truck through, but never once did Cain flinch or concede a point. In doing so, he showed he has both nerves of steel and a thick skin. These are good qualities in any leader, but the exchanges also showed he has the inflexibility of a man whose knowledge of the issues is shallow. Thus, rather than coming across as principled, all he exhibited was the relentlessness of a good salesman.
Cain’s flaws have already been discussed here. His is a campaign devoid of genuine substance, and his lack of government experience and foreign policy knowledge renders him unqualified for the highest office in the land. The novelty of his gregarious style will earn him the affection of a portion of the Republican electorate, but the votes for such a candidate to be nominated simply don’t exist. Romney has his flaws, but so far, none of his opponents have been able to sink him on his Massachusetts health care law, and it’s not likely Cain will succeed where others have failed.
With much of the GOP starting to line up behind Romney (if only to avoid being late to jump on his bandwagon), the best Cain can hope for is to be the Mike Huckabee of 2012. That will be quite an achievement for a man with no political experience. But in terms of landing a job, all it means is he is in a good position to get his own television show–not a seat in the Oval Office.
