Regardless if the sexual harassment allegations against GOP presidential hopeful candidate Herman Cain are true or not, he's not going to be the Republican nominee. I'll admit his poll numbers have far exceeded what many thought he would ever attain. But when feminist attorney Gloria Allred emerges (she must have burned through all of Tiger Woods' and Charlie Sheen's mistresses), this situation turns from a political race into a glorified TMZ episode. Either way, Cain's viability as a serious candidate appears very much in peril.
While I'm sure Cain's fellow candidates will wish him well on the surface, privately the remaining field will attempt to horn in on Cain's supporters. So who would benefit most from Cain's departure? Call me crazy, but I think Newt Gingrich is in prime position to vault into the lead. Just last week a Rasmussen poll showed Gingrich gaining ten points on frontrunner Mitt Romney. Combine that with the fact that a Gingrich-Cain debate over the weekend highlighted Gingrich's prowess in knowing the issues (in front of some of Cain's most ardent supporters no less), the opportunity for Gingrich to emerge as frontrunner has never been stronger.
One takeaway from a number of GOP debates this election season is that a fair number of Republican voters almost regretfully pointed out Gingrich's solid showing, intimating that his supposed "unelectability" made him little more than a spoiler in the nomination process. However, a fundraiser in Des Moines, IA Friday evening showed that prominent GOP voters are beginning to warm to the former House speaker. As I sift through the candidates (again, any of them would make for a better President than Obama), the one thing I look to is who could best stand up to the President in a one-on-one debate. Since Obama will be unable to appeal to the electorate on facts due to his poor record, he is likely to go the the ol' demagoguery card. As far as I can tell, there isn't a better candidate to combat such a strategy than Gingrich.
I can't even begin to convey what a stunning development this would be. A mere five months ago, Gingrich's campaign was in shambles due to mass resignations of key members of his staff. Now less than a year from the general election, we're talking about Newt Gingrich as a serious Presidential candidate. Unbelievable.
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2 comments:
i was thinking the same thing. somebody of gingrich's political prowess should have made him a frontrunner at the biggining, but he's a pompous ass that turns people off.
this may be newt's opening, finally. an opening he should have had long ago.
I agree, too. Newt is a piece of work, but he does a better job of explaining conservative principles than anyone else in the field.
I really don't think too many people want Mitt Romney to win and the search has always been for a credible "Not Romney." Newt, for all his warts, might be the best guy for the "Not Romney" job.
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