why i may withdraw my support for herman cain

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I love Herman Cain, and think he would be a better president than Obama, and I have supported him for a very long time. Since early 2011, when nobody knew who he was and he was only polling at 3%. I enjoyed when the underdog skyrocketed to 30%. But now that time has passed and there is more scrutiny on him, more is expected of him, and he needs to deliver. Each day, I'm getting more concerned on whether he is truly prepared to take on the presidency of the United States.

1. The scandal accusations. While likely the accusations are a baseless smear campaign, he has been handling it poorly, running rather than aggressively trying to defend his name. And if there is truth to the accusations, he is dead.

2. His 9-9-9 plan gets more complicated as he adds onto it. While I like the idea of broadening the base and lowering the rates, he assumes both that the sales tax will match current revenues and that people can evade the sales tax by buying used goods, which is a paradox. Moreover, he does not address how a new sales tax will affect people receiving disability, retirement pensions, etc. Moreover, he never addresses how this measure (which even many Republicans in congress disagree with) will pass. He says "don't worry about whether it's passable, worry about if its bold enough". Well, eventually he may have to compromise his plan and overcomplexify it to please members of Congress. So if 999 does not pass, he just sits at his desk for 4 years.

3. He is danger of being a single issue candidate. He needs to talk not just about 999, but environment, health care, social issues, etc also. He is a pro-choice. He says he's pro-life but he thinks the government should not illegalize abortion. That's essentially pro-choice. I never met any pro-choice person who likes abortion.

4. It seems like he is ill prepared, whereas other candidates like Newt Gingrich have really done their homework. He said at one point "I've only been researching these issues for a couple of months". We need a president who already has his/her beliefs developed, not someone who researches the issues last minute like they are cramming for an exam.

5. He does not address foreign policy much, he has no foreign policy experience, and he seems to not know much about it. He never clarified his stance on Afghanistan. He spoke little of Iraq. Foreign policy is 50% of what the president is, and while Herman Cain may make a good domestic president, I doubt that he will be an effective Commander In Chief.

6. Lack of overall political experience, though I do respect his administrative experience as CEO. I know he says "How's that working for you", and likes being the outsider, but in Jan 2013, he will be an insider. People in elected office have made plenty of mistakes, but they have learned from them. For example Perry and Romney made a lot of mistakes as governor, but that's a part of learning, and they are wiser from those mistakes. Cain on the other hand has to start from scratch, and will probably make a lot of mistakes, because everybody makes mistakes at first.

Again, I really like him as a person. But there is a difference between "I really like this person" and "This person should be the leader of the free world for four or eight years". I think he'd make a great Governor, but President of the United States, the world's highest title, is questionable. So, if he does not address these things, my support, as well as his entire campaign is in danger.

Aw, come on. Don't give up on Hermy so easily!

I'm glad you are reconsidering who you support for president. The cult of Herman Cain seemed impossible to get to for awhile despite his massive idiocy and complete ignorance on a vast amount of subjects but now the cracks are showing and it's only going to get worse from here. You can like him personally but that's a poor way of choosing what candidate you support. There are a lot of people I'd like to have a beer with but that in no way qualifies them to run the most powerful country on the planet.

Cain was my favorite Repub in the race I am currently taking a bath
on intrade as his star is falling.
I never thought he could win the primary that belongs to Mitt the flopper.
but I was planning on selling when Herman stock went high
it never went above 10%

I don't know i rather liked his stance on uzbekibekibekibekistanstan.

That "Broadening the tax base" canard is just code for "raise taxes on the poor" though.

I haven't read the first page, so this isn't directed at the author personally, but I find it strange that on WP that there would be anyone on WP really supporting a republican candidate at anytime. I suppose WP has gotten better than it was back in 2007. Now, though, it is somewhat less surprising that the title is about the withdrawal of support. Probably for whatever reasons that the usual smear campaigns that are always done to anyone who isn't a democrat/labor/etc party member, but that would remain to be seen. My expectations though are that it has to do with whatever has been dug up, spun, construed, or constructed as character assassination by the mainstream media are the reasons enumerated for the withdrawal of the OP's previous support of a republican candidate. Go Bachmann though!

I like Newt and Cain equally for president. Both actually believe in capitalism, which is an easy "1-up" on the current president.
The economy is the most dire concern our nation has right now -- and it is very dire -- so my method in selecting a candidate will be deciding which of them will most quickly and soundly boost the economy. Obama lacks even the intent of boosting the economy -- he's an Alinsky-ite through and through -- so voting for someone else is a no-brainer.

Cain has 12 more months to mature in his specific policies and knowledge. I can't see the future that far ahead, so I will suspend my judgment on him until it is time to vote.

I don't take sex scandals all that seriously, because oftentimes, people are known to make such accusations in order to get publicity or extort money from them, or out of revenge or some other sort of personal grudge.

That said, while Ron Paul is still my top pick, Herman Cain is crucial to the Republicans if they want to win. He is the most moderate of all the GOP contenders, and if one of the more right-leaning ones wins the nomination, Obama will certainly be reelected because people think that "Christians are mean".