Herman Cain boldly proffered that the black electorate has been brainwashed into narrow-mindedness, to the point where most will not even consider voting for a conservative or Republican candidate, regardless of the merits of their platform.
Cain, who surprisingly routed former GOP front-runner, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in the Florida straw poll over the weekend, told reporters that “African Americans have been brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view.”
The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and self-made millionaire went on to say that “I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative.” He added, “So it’s just brainwashing and people not being open-minded, pure and simple.”
Right after that, Cain seemingly contradicted his statement when he added that a full one-third to 50 percent of African Americans are indeed “open-minded.”
“I meet them every day. They stop me in the airport. And so this whole notion that all black Americans are necessarily going to stay and vote Democrat and vote for Obama, that’s simply not true. More and more black Americans are thinking for themselves. And that’s a good thing,” he said.
This is not the first time that Cain, who admonishes blacks against playing the race card to rationalize their current woes, has waddled clumsily into racial politics. When popular “Comedy Central” host Jon Stewart mocked Cain for some of his public pronouncements this past summer, Cain countered caustically that the only reason Stewart parodied him is because he is a “black conservative.”
Interesting viewpoint when you consider that most African Americans are social and fiscal conservatives, but vote liberal due to treatment from the Republican Party that ranges from disinterest to open hostility.
Cain will soon learn that he cannot keep jumping over both sides of the racial fence for political expediency.
According to a new poll released Sept. 28 by Fox News, Cain is running in third place in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is leading the GOP primary pack and Texas Governor Rick Perry, the former conservative darling, is now running in second place.
–terry shropshire
