Why Herman Cain Needs to Run (Instead of Sarah Palin)

Ok, point of honesty, I'm mainly including Sarah Palin because it's a surefire way to stir up the shit, on both sides. But I will be mentioning why #CitizenCain (@THEHermanCain on Twitter) would be a better choice to put up against Obamamania that sweet Sarah (although i would consider voting for her nonetheless).  So let's get to it, as I have even more important things to write.

First of all, for those of you who don't know, here's the 1-paragraph back story on Herman Cain (from Wikipedia):

Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is an American newspaper columnist, businessman, politician, and radio talk-show host from Georgia. He is best known as the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. Cain's newspaper column is distributed by North Star Writers Group. He currently lives in the Atlanta suburbs.

He does now have his Presidential Exploratory Committee started, although he has not formally thrown his hat in the ring (as doing so would put him out of work, as he is a radio talk host).

I know I've talked about him as a candidate before (this old link is the best story on him), but with the exploration committee up, his candidacy is more of a reality now. So, to the exclusion of all other candidates, I have my pick for the 2012 race.

And then, I came across this article, "Top Ten Reasons to Support Herman Cain for President." In short (to tease you into reading the article), they are as follow:

10. The "race card"
9. Been there, done that
8. Not forgettable
7. Will break every rule set for him by "strategists"
6. Will really get under the skin of the Washingtonian class
5. Will not get in way of the 2010 Congress' momentum
4. Never held office before
3. Ann Coulter's second-favorite pick
2. Will not be cowed by the new speech police
1. It opens the door to a ticket of Cain and Haley Barbour in some order.

I can't argue with a single point on this list, and I wholeheartedly agree with most.

Now, since I promised contrasting Herman and Sarah:

There are two reasons that I want Herman Cain to run and NOT have Sarah Palin run. 

First, Sarah Palin lacks the polish of Herman Cain.  If you've heard Herman speak, it's clear, articulate, and full of passion, with a refreshing use of homespun phrasing and a hint of ebonics.  Sarah, on the other hand, has too much of a tendency to rely on the homespun phrases, sound bites, and comes off less intelligent than she really is far too often (when I agree and cringe, it's a good example). And that leads us to our second reason.

The second reason is similar.  In this case, it's more of public perception.  Herman Cain is, outside of the Tea Party circles and his listeners in Atlanta, largely unknown.  And therefore, he has the ability to define himself as he moves through the process of becoming a candidate.  Sarah Palin, on the other hand, is partially defined by Tina Fey.  In other words, she is, to a degree, damaged goods outside of Tea party circles.  For her, the effort is going to be rebuilding her image.  And I don't think she has the ability to do it, at least not by 2012.

So I have my choice come the primaries.  I'll reevaluate if the Hermanator decides to bow out, or as the slate of candidates solidifies, Cain shows up in the "not fucking likely" bracket.