On Friday evening, July 16, the Georgia Tea Party held a rally in Marietta, a few miles from my house. Had I known about it in advance, I think I would have gone, just to see first-hand what all the shouting is about.
A spokesman for the Georgia Tea Party estimated there were around 3,500 people attending. Though it's called The Georgia Tea Party, it is Marietta-based, so that seems as if it were a pretty good turn out.
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The rally was called, "Constitution, Candidates and Casting Your Vote." There were approximately fifty candidates for this Tuesday's election, from school board members to the governor. The Marietta Daily Journal proclaimed this was a non-partisan advocacy group and I wonder who that's supposed to fool. So far, I haven't been able to find a democratic candidate who was there. If you didn't know, Marietta is also the home of Saxby Chambliss and Phil Gingrey, so I don't know how at home a Democratic candidate would have felt.
People interviwed by the Journal were ecstatic over the turnout and the ability to be able to speak with so many candidates and get their viewpoints. I can't imagine there was much variety in their viewpoints. A county school board candidate explained that the tea party to her "is all about our liberty and our freedom." Where do these people get that
Democrats are trying to take away their freedom? What have they been smoking?
Karen Handel, candidate for governor was quoted as saying, "The tea party, they have simply reignited the conservative movement in our state and in this country, and I'm so grateful for their efforts."
Another speaker at the rally, Herman Cain, a black radio show host from Atlanta, blasted the NAACP's recent denunciation of Tea Parties for having racist elements. Cain dismissed the NAACP's comments as "inaccurate and the NAACP itself as irrelevant."
And who, you might ask, is Herman Cain? I had no idea either until yesterday when I ran across an article by Matt Lewis, in which I learned there is a 'draft Cain' page on Facebook and that Cain himself is hinting at a run.
Cain hosts "The Herman Cain Show" on Atlanta talk radio station 750 WSB five days a week. Also on the same station are Neal Boortz and Sean Hannity. So you know what type of show we're talking about. He also serves as a commentator for Fox News Business. Cain calls himself a true conservative, opposing abortion even in the case of rape and incest. He's for a strong national defense, the Fair Tax, tax cuts, energy independence, capping and cutting government spending, restructuring Social Security and defeding the U.S. Constitution.
Cain has a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Morehouse College and a master's degree in computer science from Purdue University. He has worked for the Department of the Navy, the Coca-Cola Company and for the Pillsbury company. At Pillsbury he was appointed head of Godfather's Pizza chain, where he organized a buyout after turning the company around and avoiding bankruptcy. Cain has served on the board of the National Restaurant Association, chairing the board from 1994 to 1995 and becoming President and CEO in 1996.
In 2000, Cain briefly ran a campaign for President. In 2004 he ran for the U.S. Senate in Georgia pursuing the seat that became vacant after Zell Miller retired. He lost to Johnny Isakson.
Matt Lewis writes of Cain's 'potent force of charisma' and the fact his supporters don't just admire him, they love him. When he isn't speaking to Tea Party conservatives, he's speaking at GOP events like the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans. It was at that conference that Cain hinted at a run for the Presidency. He warned there might be a dark horse candidate the people didn't know about. The crowd went wild.
So what do you think? Have you even heard of this person? It might be an interesting match-up to see two African-Americans running for President.