Herman Cain: Im forming an exploratory committee for 2012

Herman Cain is 'definitely' forming 2012 exploratory committee
Alex Pappas is a political reporter at the Daily Caller. He is a graduate of The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. Former Godfathers Pizza chief executive Herman Cain says he’s definitely forming an Exploratory Committee — likely within the next several weeks — to test the waters for a possible Republican presidential run in 2012. Cain, a radio Talk Show host and favorite of the Tea Party movement, confirmed the news in an interview with The Daily Caller. He suggested t...

Herman Cain is definitely forming 2012 exploratory committee (Daily Caller)
Former Godfathers Pizza chief executive Herman Cain says he’s definitely forming an Exploratory Committee — likely within the next several weeks — to test the waters for a possible Republican presidential run in 2012. Cain, a radio Talk Show host and favorite of the Tea Party movement, confirmed the news in an interview with The Daily Caller. He suggested that a Presidential Campaign is likely, but said he hasn’t made a final decision. “Bottom line is, all of the ...

Fridays Line From The Fix
Those of you R4’08 Veterans out there will remember the debates sparked by Chris Cillizza’s Friday columns in the Washington Post entitled “The Line”. They became a weekly virtual water cooler moment as everyone argued why their Candidate of choice deserved a higher ranking, or why others were ranked too high on the list. Well, Cillizza is back in form for the 2012 Campaign, and even at this (very) early juncture in the campaign (before anyone has even announced!), he i...

Herman Cain Set to Form Exploratory Committee Soon
Herman Cain, who I profiled earlier this week, has told the Daily Caller that the formation of an Exploratory Committee is likely to occur in the next several weeks. Here’s an excerpt from the article, including comments from Cain: “Bottom line is, all of the indicators and all of the benchmarks that I had laid out and we had laid out as a team are all moving in the direction of yes,” Cain said. “We haven’t gotten there yet, but we’re moving in that direction.” He

Two new polls show Palin trailing badly in 2012 match up against Obama
Two new polls show Sarah Palin losing ground before she even begins a potential Presidential Campaign against President Obama in 2012.  A new poll from ABC News and The Washington Post has Sarah Palin trailing President Obama by 15 points (54%-39%) in a potential 2012 contest.  That poll could be dismissed as an outlier if not for a similar poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal which shows Palin trailing Obama by 22 points (55%-33%).  Both polls show other Republican cand...

The Gingrich Who Stole Christmas
The calendar is collapsing. Only a week until Christmas! Only a month until the beginning of the Presidential Election! David Brooks and Gail Collins talk between columns. Yes, the race for the White House is practically under way. Already, there are at least seven Republican presidential primary debates on the schedule. The way this is going, the Republican presidential hopefuls will eventually be on television every single minute. Possibly they can be convinced to do something more entertaini...

Iowa GOP strong arms presidential candidates into Ames Staw Poll
On Thursday, the Republican Party of Iowa announced that the all-important Ames Straw Poll will be held Aug. 13, 2011. The Straw Poll has traditionally been an early marker to gauge relative support for Republican Presidential Candidates in advance of the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses. The state GOP also announced that they will co-host a debate with Fox News on Aug. 11, just two days before the Straw Poll. The Ames Straw Poll is one of the first events on the nomination calendar that can ma...

GOP 2012 Primary: Populists vs. Managers
National Journal: As the 2012 Republican pre­sidential race begins to coalesce, the field is dividing between Populists and managers. The most prominent Populists are former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The leading manager is Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, although he could face competition from such current governors as Indiana's Mitch Daniels, Mississippi's Haley Barbour, and, conceivably, New Jersey's Chris Christie. Oneti...

An Iowan on Santorum: 'Very Presidential in Stature'
The closing item in the Morning Jolt mentioned Rick Santorum’s event on a cold night in Davenport, Iowa. A Campaign Spot reader, Meredith, was at last night’s meeting. Her take: LOVE love love The Morning Jolt. It’s the first thing I look for in the a.m. I was there in Davenport last night. I’m looking for a Candidate. I don’t think the “reruns” can beat Obama; they weren’t that popular the first time (i.e. Huckabee and Romney). I am not an offic...

Who knew that Murdoch and Soros had it in them?
  "I LOVE THE CHEMISTRY between Greta Van Susteren and Herman Cain. She is SMITTEN w THE HERMANATOR!" we twittered this afternoon after viewing a scintillating interview between the Fox News anchoress and the "Stay inspired: We the people are still in charge" Republican rising star that got our Papa Grizzly juices flowing. We haven't felt this energized since that McCain announcement of his Running Mate! "If the polarisation between liberal Progressives and t...

Who knew that Murdoch and Soros had it in them?
  "I LOVE THE CHEMISTRY between Greta Van Susteren and Herman Cain. She is SMITTEN w THE HERMANATOR!" we twittered this afternoon after viewing a scintillating interview between the Fox News anchoress and the "Stay inspired: We the people are still in charge" Republican rising star that got our Papa Grizzly juices flowing. We haven't felt this energized since that McCain announcement of his Running Mate! "If the polarisation between liberal Progressives and t...

Dannie's Insider Tea Party Has Arrived
Rep. Drew Darby is Standing Up for Us in Austin Social Cons vs Fiscal Cons - False Choice? He was late to the party, originally calling Tea Parties short lived groups led by small minds who should be part of the Republican Party. Then a girl from Wharton came along and he was sad because she had the Grassroots following that he dreamed of. But then he remembered that he is the master at jumping in the front car of a moving train and that made him happy. Besides, he's an insider now, he's...

Potential Dark Horse: Herman Cain in 2012
RedState recently polled their readers to see who they would like to see as the GOP Presidential nominee. The winner was Herman Cain. Who is Herman Cain? Cain is a big Private Sector Candidate - he was a former Pillsbury executive and later ran Godfathers Pizza. He’s also a Talk Show host and PAC founder. He had previously ran for US Senate in Georgia in 2004 - he came in 2nd place, but did not garner enough support to force a runoff. He’s a great speaker who, apparentl...

Herman Cain: The Right Wing Sleeper Candidate in 2012?
Politico’s Ben Smith discussed today the unforeseen possibility that Right Wing Activist Herman Cain could be a surprise Republican Candidate for president, after he bested all other Republicans in an online Straw Poll conducted by the conservative blog RedState. Cain, an African American businessman and radio Talk Show host, even topped Sarah Palin, who came in second, to be the favorite of the Right Wing blogosphere. Erick Erickson of RedState writes, “I like Herman Cain and, thoug...

Saturday reading: Olive Garden
Frum says Romney's the Olive Garden Candidate, and that that's a good thing. Tobin and Wehner blast Palin. Suderman writes that the "earnest lie-checkers" at PolitiFact stacked the deck. Conservatives push to dump the rest of Iowa's high-court judges. And the DREAM Act dies. ...

Happy Hour Links
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. Florida judge signals opposition to ObamaCare. RNC's chief Fundraiser calls it quits. Tim Pawlenty regrets not running for another term. Herman Cain explores 2012 presidential run. YouTube staffs up to rid site of al Qaeda Propaganda videos. Subliminal Zionism? John Daugherty: "The Patriots, Tom Brady, and Stats Padding." Don't sacrifice unit cohesion for a social experiment. And there's a role for Congress. The Afghan gov...

Herman Cain mania
There's a place in every primary for an ideological purist and debate champ — think Dennis Kucinich — and radio talker Herman Cain seems to be the early front-runner for that slot on the Republican side in 2012. Cain, an African-American conservative with a real Private Sector background — he was a Pillsbury executive and then took over and ran Godfathers Pizza — is a regular on the conservative event circuit and a compelling speaker, though he's little known outside co...

CNN teams up with Tea Party in debate
WASHINGTON--CNN plans to host a Republican presidential primary debate next year with Tea Party Express, a political action committee that featured Sarah Palin at its events and is now raising money for a new advertising campaign against President Obama. The Cable News network announced Friday that it has teamed up with the Sacramento-based organization to co-host a debate in Tampa, the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention, during the first week of September. The event will focus on...

CNN teams up with Tea Party in debate
Source: LA Times WASHINGTON--CNN plans to host a Republican presidential primary debate next year with Tea Party Express, a political action committee that featured Sarah Palin at its events and is now raising money for a new advertising campaign against President Obama. The Cable News network announced Friday that it has teamed up with the Sacramento-based organization to co-host a debate in Tampa, the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention, during the first week of September. The even...

Iowa Republicans launch effort to impeach state Supreme Court judges
Republican lawmakers in Iowa have launched an effort to impeach four state Supreme Court justices over their decision to strike down a ban on Gay Marriage in the state last year.  The new effort comes just as the 2012 GOP presidential primary heats up and the two are sure to intersect. Iowa Conservatives, led by former gubernatorial contender Bob Vander Plaats, will likely pressure GOP hopefuls to weigh in.  Just last month, Vander Plaats led a successful effort to oust three other justices ...

Rep. Pence Moves The Goal Posts On Tax Cuts, Suggests Compromise Is Unconstitutional
For several months, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) has been telling anyone who would listen that Congress needed to prevent the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts at the end of the year. In September, he boasted of a "growing Bipartisan majority in the House that is prepared to extend all tax relief for every American." Later that month, he complained to Fox News host Greta Van Susteren that "we have dozens of Democrats who said they're willing to support extending all the current tax relief, but that's no...

Tim Pawlenty Attacks Public Sector Unions - Calls Their Benefits and Pensions a Ponzi Scheme
Greta Van Susteren asks Tim Pawlenty about this nasty little screed he wrote recently attacking Public Sector Unions and their benefits. Here's the opening. When Americans think of Organized Labor, they might think of images like I saw growing up in a blue-collar meatpacking town: hard hats, work boots, tough conditions and gritty jobs. While I didn't work in the slaughterhouses, I did become a union member when I worked at a Grocery Store to help put myself through school. I was grateful for th...

An Avenue for Mike Pence?
Ron Brownstein has a very interesting article out today for National Journal about how the field of Candidates is shaping up for 2012. He posits that the field is shaping up to be between managers like Mitt Romney and Populists like Sarah Palin. I think that is, largely, a false dichotomy, but if you change what he means by “manager” I think he is on to something. I’d use a word like “establishment” or even “conventional” to describe the end of the fie...

Poll Watch: PPP (D) Wisconsin 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey
PPP (D) Wisconsin 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey Who would you like to see the Republicans nominate for President in 2012: Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney or John Thune? Sarah Palin 21% Mike Huckabee 15% Mitt Romney 9% Ron Paul 9% Newt Gingrich 5% Mitch Daniels 2% Tim Pawlenty 2% John Thune 1% Someone else/Undecided 36% In 2012 would you most like the Democratic Presidential nominee to be Barack Obama, someone more liberal t...

Poll Watch: PPP (D) Ohio 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey
PPP (D) Ohio 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey Who would you like to see the Republicans nominate for President in 2012: Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney or John Thune? Sarah Palin 22% Mike Huckabee 16% Mitt Romney 8% Ron Paul 8% Newt Gingrich 7% Mitch Daniels 4% Tim Pawlenty 2% John Thune 0% Someone else/Undecided 33% In 2012 would you most like the Democratic Presidential nominee to be Barack Obama, someone more liberal than B...