Herman Cain scrambles to toe the pro-life line on abortion
Herman Cain won a straw poll vote in Nevada Friday, edging out establishment favorite Mitt Romney by a couple of percentage points in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.
It may have been the single 鈥� though largely inconsequential 鈥� bright spot in Cain鈥檚 week as he scrambled to answer criticisms about his 鈥�9-9-9鈥� tax plan, his waffling on abortion, what he said was a 鈥渏oke鈥� about an electrified fence along the US-Mexican border, and his lack of foreign policy smarts (which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made fun of in her meeting this week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai).
Then there were the reports that Cain鈥檚 campaign spent some $100,000 in campaign contributions to buy copies of Cain鈥檚 books and pamphlets from the company owned by Cain and his wife 鈥� probably not a huge deal, but a speed bump that does have an ethical/legal tinge guaranteed to last at least one news cycle.
Election 101: 10 things you should know about Herman Cain
The lesson Mr. Cain is quickly learning is that off-the-cuff remarks and demonstrated ignorance 鈥� even from a candidate who touts his lack of elected experience as an advantage 鈥� goes only so far.
What鈥檚 the importance of an 鈥渋nsignificant鈥� country like Uzbekistan, he鈥檚 said, if it doesn鈥檛 help create jobs in the US. (Both Bush and Obama administrations have seen Uzbekistan as important to US interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan.)
He鈥檚 flip-flopped (or at least answered confusingly) about negotiating for the release of American prisoners held by terrorists, and he鈥檚 described his stance on foreign affairs as simply 鈥渁n extension of the Reagan philosophy.鈥�
鈥淩eagan's philosophy, as you know, was peace through strength,鈥� he said on Fox News. 鈥淢y philosophy is peace through strength and clarity. We need to clarify who our friends are, clarify who our enemies are, stop giving money to the enemies and make sure that our enemies know who our friends are, that we are going to stand solidly behind.鈥�
The elaboration did not clarify things for many people.
Saturday night, he has the chance to redeem himself on abortion when he speaks to the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition banquet at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
He told CNN this week that he strongly opposes abortion, but that "the government shouldn't be trying to tell people everything to do, especially when it comes to social decisions that they need to make."
In cases of rape or incest, he said, 鈥渋t ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make.鈥� That set off alarm bells among many social conservatives, for whom being against all abortions (including those to save the life of a woman) is a crucial litmus test.
鈥淗erman Cain will have a rather quick test this weekend of whether he has been unable to erase some of the self-inflicted damage he's caused with Iowa social conservatives,鈥� writes Maggie Haberman at Politico.com. 鈥淭here is a broad sense that Cain has taken on some water in the state after the remarks, in which he essentially said in a CNN interview it's not up to government to tell women in cases of rape or incest whether they can have an abortion.鈥�
"He's not gonna be able to charm his way through it," Iowa GOP activist Craig Robinson told Politico.
鈥淗e basically said, 鈥業鈥檓 pro-life, but I don鈥檛 want to force my views on others,鈥欌�� said Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, which describes itself as 鈥渁 consistent, courageous voice in the churches, in the legislature, in the media, in the courtroom, in the public square 鈥� always standing for God鈥檚 truth.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a pro-choice stance,鈥� Vander Plaats told The Iowa Republican political web site. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a Democrat view. That sounds just like John Kerry in 2004.鈥�
As the Iowa caucuses approach 鈥� dominated as they are by social conservatives 鈥� being 鈥渏ust like John Kerry鈥� is not the place Herman Cain wants to be.
