USA 2012: The Cain train derails

Alex Hern runs over the latest news from the race to the Republican candidacy. If it weren't so terrifying, it would be a joy to watch.

Doubtless by now you will have seem Herman Cain’s monumental gaffe from his interview with the Journal Sentinel. When asked whether he agreed with Obama’s handling of Libya, Cain rambles for a full 90 seconds, including several excruciating silences, before answering that he would have done the same thing, or maybe a different thing.

If you haven’t, you can watch the video below:

It’s OK if you have, though, because the well of Herman Cain never runs dry. He made a campaign appearance at a Christian theme-park called “Holy Land” on Friday, and spoke of his elation at the fact that his muslim-sounding doctor wasn’t actually muslim.

Yahoo! News reported:

He did have a slight worry at one point during the chemotherapy process when he discovered that one of the surgeon’s name was “Dr. Abdallah.”

“I said to his physician assistant, I said, ‘That sounds foreign–not that I had anything against foreign doctors–but it sounded too foreign,” Cain tells the audience. “She said, ‘He’s from Lebanon.’ Oh, Lebanon! My mind immediately started thinking, wait a minute, maybe his religious persuasion is different than mine! She could see the look on my face and she said, ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Cain, he’s aChristian from Lebanon.'”

“Hallelujah!” Cain says. “Thank God!”

The crowd laughs uneasily.

Not that any of the other ABR candidates (that’s ‘anyone but Romney’, the mythical candidate the Tea-Partiers hope to find to take on the only credible, yet unfortunately centrist, competitor Mitt Romney) are faring any better.

Now it appears that Newt Gingrich (remember him? He’s the only Speaker of the House to ever be disciplined for ethics violations in 222 years!) has been making stupid comments as well.

Political Scrapbook reports that he accused child labour laws of doing:

more to create income inequality in the United States than any other single policy.

His solution? Scrap them, and allow schools to hire 14-year olds as janitors.

You can watch the video below:

Gingrich and Cain may have had the worst gaffes this week, but that doesn’t mean that the rest get off easily.

Rick Perry has been spreading fear about the possibility of Hamas and Hezbollah – traditionally based in Palestine and Lebanon, respectively – operating out of Mexico.

Talking Points Memo reports:

“We’re seeing countries start to come in and infiltrate. We know that Hamas and Hezbollah are working in Mexico as well as Iran with their ploy to come into the United States,” Perry said.

He continued: We know that Hugo Chavez… and the Iranian government has one of the largest — I think their largest embassy in the world is in Venezuela. So the idea that we need to have border security with the United States and Mexico is paramount to the entire western hemisphere.”

Finally, Mitt Romney has managed the impressive feat of not being able to make his mind up over his own name.

TPM reports:

Responding to Wolf Blitzer’s own self-introduction — in which Wolf said “and yes, that is my real name” — Romney began: “I’m Mitt Romney — and yes Wolf, that’s also my first name.”

Except Romney’s first name is “Willard,” and “Mitt” is his middle name.

With almost a year until the election, it’s worth stocking up on popcorn, because this spectacle is not ending any time soon.

See also:

USA 2012: Cain self-destructs, and Huntsman attempts to drag Romney into the frayAlex Hern, November 1st 2011

Republican tax plans put the myth of conservative economic prowess to bedAlex Hern, October 27th 2011

Romney remains least risible Republican candidate for another weekAlex Hern, November 14th 2011

Obama mocks the mad Right and makes the case for the StateShamik Das, September 9th 2011

Republican elephants enter the room as rivals to ObamaDominic Browne, May 26th 2011

5 Responses to “USA 2012: The Cain train derails”

  1. Political Planet

    USA 2012: The Cain train derails: Alex Hern runs over the latest news from the race to the Republican candidacy…. http://t.co/UOS32RpY

  2. Politics Matters

    USA 2012: The Cain train derails, writes @alexhern: http://t.co/yEoOToZU

  3. Mr. Sensible

    These candidates make Cameron look like a socialist… It seems to be a case of ‘I’m a Republican Candidate, Get Me Out of Here…’

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    […] USA 2012: The Cain train derails – Alex Hern, November 23rd […]

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