The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Dear Bill Kristol …

Posted on | September 24, 2011 | 75 Comments

PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT CHRIS CHRISTIE!

Seriously, you’re starting to piss me off here, with your . . . idiotic assertion that the 37 percent of Florida straw-poll delegates who voted for Herman Cain were voting for “none of the above.”

Did you notice that little . . . pause, Bill?

Kind of a hint, buddy. Because any liberal would have said “racist assertion” instead of “idiotic assertion,” and I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, knowing that your college roommate was Alan Keyes.

Trust me when I say that I understand perfectly well why the Beltway commentariat has a problem taking Herman seriously. To start with the obvious: His campaign is unprecedented. The man has never been elected to anything, and the last guy we elected president with no previous political experience was Ike. 

Being Supreme Allied Commander is probably better preparation for the presidency than being CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. I get that.

I’ve called Herman Cain “Steve Forbes with charisma,” and I think maybe part of the problem you pundit types have with Herman is that you don’t trust charisma. This is why you were willing to say polite things about that hopeless dud Pawlenty and have such warm praise for the charisma-deficient Mitch Daniels yet constantly low-rate Cain.

Also, as a successful businessman, Herman Cain has an instinctive distrust of know-it-all advisers — he wants to do things his way —  so his staff is noticeably lacking in well-known campaign operatives, speechwriters, etc.

I get that, too. And trust me when I say that, as someone who has followed the Cain campaign closely for nine months now, I’ve heard lots of complaints about opportunities missed because of subpar staff work by Team Herman. The phrase “amateur hour” has become sadly familiar, and has been often heard from people who enthusiastically support Cain, but grind their teeth at the unreturned phone calls, the haphazard advance work, etc., etc.

All of these caveats aside, however, Herman Cain has three things: A compelling rags-to-riches narrative, an optimistic pro-business message and more charisma than anyone else in the GOP field.

So how about, instead of pining for Chris Christie or some other “acceptable” candidate, you start trying to figure out what you can do to help Herman Cain win this thing? Because you are underestimating the risk of your own embarrassment if Christie is foolish enough to listen to your pleadings, gets in the race, and then Herman beats him, too.

Don’t laugh, Bill. All those guys who jumped on the Perry bandwagon last month probably would have laughed if I had told them Cain would stomp their guy to smithereens in the Florida straw poll.

They’re not laughing now, are they?

HERMAN CAIN FOR PRESIDENT
Because He Keeps Making Fools of
All the ‘Experts’ Who Say He Can’t Win

UPDATE: Et tu, Insty?

Category: Chris Christie, Election 2012, Florida, Herman Cain, Intellectuals

Comments

75 Responses to “Dear Bill Kristol …”

  1. ThePaganTemple
    September 25th, 2011 @ 12:05 pm

    Bill Krystal is, as somebody else pointed out, a Neocon. What that means, as I’ve come to understand it, is they were at one time liberal Democrats who were allegedly strong on national security, and so they changed parties once the far left pacifist wing of the Democrats became predominant. But they are still liberals on most matters not having to do with national security. You can spot one a mile away. Mention JFK and they’ll get all misty-eyed. So why would it come as a surprise that they would support somebody like Chubby?

    If you don’t like it, start flooding their publications with e-mails and links to other sources so they’ll know where you stand. They need to know. Let them know that they, not you, are the fringe of the party.

  2. rosalie
    September 25th, 2011 @ 12:15 pm

    Coulter and Ingraham are showing their true beltway, elitist snobbery.  They criticize Palin for not making a definitive decision, but it’s just fine and dandy for Christie to continue to say that he might jump in, as though everyone is just waiting for his announcement with bated breath. 

  3. Anonymous
    September 25th, 2011 @ 12:51 pm

    Amen, and amen!

  4. Joe
    September 25th, 2011 @ 1:35 pm

    Pagan, they are jokes.  If you go down through my comments, I do not attack Perry much at all.  I even say this is not the end for him, if he is a good candidate he will fight and recover from this.  Or he wont.  I have nothing really against Perry. 

    And the joke about Perry getting a D in economics is the hypocrisy and incompetency of the Obama administration.  I think Jay Leno and his writers wrote those jokes.  I put them up for two reasons:  They are funny.  They have a double edge to them if you think about them. 

  5. Mike F.
    September 25th, 2011 @ 1:36 pm

    I’m ready to put a ” Herman Cain / Alan West 2012″ sticker on my car.

  6. Joe
    September 25th, 2011 @ 1:38 pm

    I really have no idea why this is, other than Coulter and Ingraham buy that Palin is damaged goods, but that Christie is just amazing. 

    I love when Chris Christie engages in some witty exchange with some union audience member.  That is good stuff.  But Christie is not a conservative on most issues.  Not even close.  Yet Palin is a conservative.

    Perry is melting down for his liberal positions.  Christie is to the left of Perry on almost all of them. 

  7. Joe
    September 25th, 2011 @ 1:41 pm

    Ouch! 

  8. Joe
    September 25th, 2011 @ 1:46 pm

    Oh Pagan, sorry if you thought I was picking on Rick Perry.  Here is a joke you will like (thanks to Christy Waters below): 

    Calling Chris Christie a conservative is like calling Chaz Bono a man… even though they look very similar.     

    Now you have to admit that is funny. 

  9. rosalie
    September 25th, 2011 @ 2:44 pm

    You’re right.  It boggles my mind to see Coulter fawning over him since he’s just another RINO.  We would have a chance with Palin to really change things for the better in this country, and these so-called Conservatives are clinging to a RINO. 

  10. Zilla of the Resistance
    September 25th, 2011 @ 3:01 pm

    Bill Kristol is an islamoblow dhimwit, just like his idol Chris Christie. I wrote about both of these islamocoddlers in my post, “Conservative” Dhimmitude, over the winter. Nothing Kristol has to say about anything is of any relevance to me. Ditto for Christie. 

  11. Datechguy's Blog » Blog Archive » I know it’s just a straw poll…
    September 25th, 2011 @ 12:07 pm

    […] was a bandwagon has been restrained and calm with only seven update, the latest must bring tears to Bill Kristol’s eyes: Permit me humbly to suggest that this puts a decisive end to all that Chris Christie talk. I […]

  12. A Real Conservative Defends Herman Cain’s Florida Straw Poll Win – Tells Beltway Pundit Bill Kristol to Shut-Up! | Are We Aware Yet? Political News Blog-Current News Political News Blog
    September 25th, 2011 @ 12:22 pm

    […] Dear Bill Kristol … […]

  13. Anonymous
    September 25th, 2011 @ 5:06 pm

    So what’s stopping Dan Collins?

  14. Teeing it up: A Round at the LINKs | SENTRY JOURNAL
    September 25th, 2011 @ 1:47 pm

    […] THE OTHER McCAIN: Dear Bill Kristol …  […]

  15. Adjoran
    September 25th, 2011 @ 7:07 pm

    The Christie fever is pretty much the East Coast version of Perry fever:  people know a little about him, the well-publicized confrontations with unions and Democrats in the legislature where he made them back down, etc., so they assume he could be the Conservative Knight in Shining Armor to ride in and save America and the GOP from all that ails us.  Getting to know Christie more intimately would be the same as discovering Perry’s reality:  conservatives would find plenty not to like.

    These guys who are floated above the fray as some ethereal beings are always actually made of flesh and blood and usually feet of clay.  It’s like the early match-ups in polling when “generic Republican” out-polls all the specific candidates; people project the attributes they would want to see in a candidate onto those mysterious non-entities, and are then shocked – shocked! – to find they are as human and flawed as all the others.

  16. Bob Belvedere
    September 25th, 2011 @ 9:48 pm

    Rosalie and Joe: The Ingraham / Coulter situation is is why women should have the vote taken away from them.

  17. Bob Belvedere
    September 25th, 2011 @ 10:00 pm

    Ah!  Trying to double-cover your raaaaacism!

  18. Bob Belvedere
    September 25th, 2011 @ 10:01 pm

    Spot-on, Zilla, but I do wish you would open up and let us know what you really think.

  19. Video- Herman Cain reacts to Straw Poll win
    September 25th, 2011 @ 11:27 pm

    […] I echo Stacy McCain’s advice to Bill Kristol, SHUT YOUR MOUTH! Seriously, you’re starting to piss me off here, with your . . . idiotic assertion that the 37 […]

  20. From Marco Rubio to Herman Cain: How the Crist Factor Hurt Perry in Florida : The Other McCain
    September 25th, 2011 @ 11:45 pm

    […] From Marco Rubio to Herman Cain: How the Crist Factor Hurt Perry in Florida : The Other McCain.recentcomments a{display:inline !important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}@import url( https://kxm209.p3cdn2.secureserver.net/wp/wp-content/themes/elements-of-seo/style.css );HomeAbout Robert Stacy McCainAbout Smitty The Other McCain"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur KoestlerFrom Marco Rubio to Herman Cain: How the Crist Factor Hurt Perry in FloridaPosted on | September 25, 2011 | 15 Comments var addthis_product = 'wpp-261'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true,"ui_language":"en"};Marco Rubio and Sarah RumpfSarah Rumpf helped facilitate Florida state Rep. Scott Plakon’s endorsement of Herman Cain, which in turn helped Cain score his crushing upset of Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Saturday’s Orlando “Presidency5″ straw poll. Today, I spoke at length with “Sunshine State Sarah” to get the backstory of that endorsement, and she pointed out a little-noticed aspect of Perry’s humiliating defeat.“Perry hired a lot of the Charlie Crist people,” she said, referring to former aides to the permatanned ex-RINO governor who got crushed in last year’s Tea Party uprising that sent Marco Rubio to the Senate. Among the Perry campaign’s top Florida hires, only Anthony Bustamante — who is “awesome,” Sarah said — was a known ally of Rubio.While many of Crist’s ex-staffers were innocent victims of their boss’s stunning betrayal of the GOP, some of them — including some hired by Team Perry — were suspected as dirty tricksters. The Crist association gave a slight tinge of RINO-ism to the Perry campaign, undermining the Texan’s desired image as a solid conservative. So when Perry accused opponents of illegal immigration of being heartless, it stirred bitter memories of Crist’s “centrist” ways among those who had fought hard to elect Rubio.Rumpf held one of the first Orlando-area fundraisers for Rubio’s campaign, and Plakon was also an early Rubio supporter. Both Rumpf and Plakon are backing Rubio ally Adam Hasner in the 2012 GOP Senate primary to take on Democrat Bill Nelson. It was during a Friday forum for the Republican Senate candidates that Plakon mentioned his idea of endorsing Herman Cain.Rumpf was sitting with Plakon and his wife Susie (who has been a Cain fan for months), and Rumpf offered to connect Plakon with Cain’s campaign staff. Rumpf used Twitter to contact Cain spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael in Atlanta, Carmichael gave Rumpf the phone numbers of Cain’s staffers in Orlando, including Nathan Naidu. That evening about 7 p.m., a private meeting was arranged between Cain and the Plakons, and the endorsement was announced at a jam-packed rally of Cain supporters at the Rosen Centre Hotel. Here’s Sarah’s video, recorded just before the endorsement was made public:The impact of this endorsement should not be underestimated. He may not be well known (yet) outside the state of Florida, but he is extremely well-liked here and very active in conservative political causes around the state. Americans for Prosperity’s Florida Chapter named him their 2011 State Representative of the Year, and has been a leader in opposing ObamaCare, sponsoring the Florida Health Care Freedom Act. Scott Plakon is a solid fiscal and social conservative and has owned and operated several successful businesses; he is the exact type of state leader Republican presidential candidates should want on their team.Plakon’s endorsement was an enormous boost for Cain on the eve of the straw-poll, and helped convince Florida Republicans that Cain is a legitimate presidential contender.After the 2010 campaign, when state party chairman Jim Greer and NRSC chairman John Cornyn connived to “fix” the race for Crist 15 months before the GOP primary, rank-and-file Republicans in Florida have become sick and tired of being told to “get in line,” Sarah told me.As for the meaning of Cain’s victory in the Orlando straw poll, Sarah said, “This was not a protest vote. This was not a temper tantrum.”When I asked her about one interpretation that Beltway pundits have made of the Orlando results, Sarah was adamant: “Nobody was talking about Chris Christie — nobody.”Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Bill Kristol. […]

  21. Random Thoughts During Vacation Week
    September 26th, 2011 @ 10:11 am

    […] Jim Geraghty of NRO notes that Attackwatch has been as active as the Boston Red Sox over the last week. Maybe if they sign Jacoby Ellsbury they can turn it around. […]

  22. Herman Cain on Obama: ‘I’m Listening to All This Bulls–t That He’s Talking About’ : The Other McCain
    September 26th, 2011 @ 1:15 pm

    […] 25: From Marco Rubio to Herman Cain: How the Crist Factor Hurt Perry in FloridaSept. 24: Dear Bill Kristol …Sept. 24: Buzzard Bait: Rick Perry’s Immigration Blunder Took Him From Hero to ZeroSept. 24: […]

  23. Tom Kean: The Chris Christie Presidential Talk Is 'Real' - The POH Diaries
    September 26th, 2011 @ 8:26 pm

    […] but acknowledges that it is big news or at least a big rumor. Stacy McCain on the other hand, makes no apologies about what he thinks about the Christie […]

  24. Herman Cain: A Winner Against the Odds | Herman Cain PAC
    September 28th, 2011 @ 8:49 pm

    […] “Herman Cain For President: Because He Keeps Making Fools of All the ‘Experts’ Who Say He Can’t Win” Robert Stacy McCain: […]

  25. CHRISTIE SAYS ‘NO’ (AGAIN) : The Other McCain
    October 4th, 2011 @ 12:53 pm

    […] Jumpers: All Aboard the Fatty McAwesome Express!Sept. 28: Like Chris Crocker and BritneySept. 24: Dear Bill Kristol …Category: Chris Christie, Election 2012, New JerseyComments richard mcenroeDammit. I […]