Why the Cain Train will (sadly) be derailed eventually.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

1. Mainstream Media plans to ignore him as much as possible.

that's a good thing for Cain

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2. He doesn't have the money or organization to compete with Romney.

a win in Iowa solves this problem

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3. He's a black.

are you sure?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

The powers that be will end him if he becomes a serious threat.

what are they going to do, stuff the ballot boxes, reprogram the voting machines, burn a cross in his front yard?

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

2. He doesn't have the money or organization to compete with Romney.

a win in Iowa solves this problem

It didn't for Huckabee.

Huck's problem wasnt money, but that he was a regional candidate...you have to have national appeal to win the GOP nomination (also, Huck lost the support of jmfcst).  And outside of NH and UT, Romney's appeal is stuck at 25% and has been for years - basically because he is not trusted and because he doesnt have a message.  But Cain is both trusted and has a message (like Rubio) that's as American as apple pie.

When you have a candidate that has lived an unapologetic conservative American life, without flipflopping, you have a very strong national (not regional) candidate in the GOP primaries.  Thats Cain in a nutshell.

You have no idea how rabid a Cain/Rubio ticket would make the GOP...if you thought the Palin jumper craze of 2008 was crazy, you ain't seen nothin yet.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

The powers that be will end him if he becomes a serious threat.

what are they going to do, stuff the ballot boxes, reprogram the voting machines, burn a cross in his front yard?

There's other pressure that can be put on Republican leaders/donors across the country that would ensure that Cain doesn't win.

yeah, that strategy really worked during the 2010 Senate primaries - nothing compares to the power of the ballot box.  The Carl Rove's of the world can't stop Herman Cain, only Herman Cain can do that.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

jmfcst old chap, you do know that nobody has bothered to attack Cain yet don't you? And his little plans (well "plans" gives his little skeletal outlines too much credit; maybe marquee headline jingles would be more accurate at the moment) are ludicrous, and easily shredded.

than do the forum a favor and start a thread examining the 9-9-9 plan...we would all be interested in hearing arguments both for and against it

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Ah you just got to love those extrapolated straight lines!  

I understand what you are saying, but Mitt Romney has no message, it's like listening to a seashell...there's nothing there but white noise (pardon the pun), plus he has a past that doesnt sit well with conservative, both fiscal and social.  He's campaign for 5 years and can't break 25%.  And he lacks a bio involving 6 years in a POW camp to cover up his lack of message and his flipflops.

In fact, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it is more likely that the race comes down to Cain vs Newt than Romney vs AnyoneElse.

Romney is in trouble, because right about now people are going to start really tuning in and listening, and Romney doesnt have a message to sell....and with the economy probably entering a new recession, people are going to be looking for a candidate with a plan.

Newt and Cain have a plan, Romney doesn't...no one is going to be able to coast to the 2012 GOP nomination - he/she has to have a sellable message.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Oh come to think of it, what is really so special, is that the extrapolated straight lines just happen to end up at 999, right where God wants them!  It's seamless baby.  

what?  what does God have to do with 999?  if you're attempting to say Cain is trying to sell his 999 plan to Christians based on some Godly principle, then you're picking up a subliminal message that is flying right over the head of jmfcst.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

It's the tithing thing jmfcst, which is a decile concept, to wit a 10, which is one integer above a 9. As I said, you need to read your Bible some more on this. And you need to do it now!  

I am a tither, and then some, and I don't see any connection because two of those 9's are directed at me (9% payroll tax + 9% sales tax)...so that is 18% and I'm assuming that's still before SS taxes....so, no I don't see any connection with tithing and 999, other than it is proportional (flat).

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Being rich is a sign from God that He loves you, and  are going to heaven silly. (Yes, I know, I am the exception that proves the rule, because I am going to reside myself right next to Mark Twain.) You need to read your Bible too! 

God does not want you to sum the 9's jmfcst.  That is just so wrong!  Each 9 stands on its own, and therefore it is God's will displayed in a trifecta form - sort of like the trinity concept. Read the chapter in the Bible called "Numbers."  It's right there!  

it's interesting that Cain has brought out this side of your personality.  I would expect this sort of reaction to 999 from a 99er, not a lawyer.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

look, Cain could have called his simple plan a complicated name like "Flat 9% Income, Sales, and Corporate Tax Plan for building a 21st Century American Economy"...but he has a enough marketing sense to simply call it 999, which opens up an opportunity to explain his simple plan in 30 seconds.

That's why his plan is marketable - it's explainable in 30 seconds, with a punch line of "no more IRS, no more tax cheats, no more loop holes, and everyone pays the same rate."

On the surface, sounds like a winning sales pitch to me, for it at least grabs your attention - which does way more in 30 seconds than Romney can do in 30 minutes.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I am amused and touched to see that my late night/early morning rant has started such a spirited debate!

yeah, it started right after you left  

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

I have multiple personalities jmfcst.  Yes, you need to go to a psychology text to get where you need to go on that one.  The Bible is great, but there is a bit that it left out for some reason. And 99'er (what is that?), is 50 points better than a 49'er, which gets right back to my point about Croesus and God. All the dots connect jmfcst.

no, a 99er is someone who has been milking unemployment checks for 99 months.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

look, Cain could have called his simple plan a complicated name like "Flat 9% Income, Sales, and Corporate Tax Plan for building a 21st Century American Economy"...but he has a enough marketing sense to simply call it 999, which opens up an opportunity to explain his simple plan in 30 seconds.

Doesn't it sound multiple alarm bells with anyone who's read Revelation and looked at a picture of Cain's forehead, though?
Oh wait, didn't the original Cain also bear a sign there (Cain's mark)... but the dark skin is Ham's curse, nothing to do with any of these... sheesh, I need to get my story straightened out.

I see you've been IM'ing with prophetman, who is probably flipping out right about now  

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

was prophetman banned?  he would sure be entertaining right about now...

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Well, his credentials are:

- a ex CEO of a pizza chain.

And that's all.

It would be kind of stupid to vote for such a person in the worst recession since 1930, but who knows? He is a Republican and loves America and stuff.

well, at least he isn't an ex CEO of the taqueria chain. 

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Mexican culture is by far closer to the USA than Uruguay.

Not sure how long its been since you were in the States, but Mexican culture is the culture for large portions of the USA