Postmortems on the Herman Cain campaign

Herman Cain's now-ended campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination opened a useful window into the politics of race in today's Republican Party. For many whites who don't much like African-American at all, Cain is a model for what a "good Negro" should be. Above all, he rejects the notion that white racism is a problem for black Americans.

Chauncey DeVega says goodbye to the Herman Cain Presidential campaign in The Final Herman Cain Round-Up: the Race Minstrel Meme; Cain as Affirmative Action Baby; Ishmael and Crouch Go Hard WARN 12/06/2011. Vega has been a pungent critic of what he calls Cain's "race minstrelsy". He provides a handy set of links for Cain campaign round-ups. Or is that wind-ups?

One of them is Mark Anthony Neal, Performing Herman Cain Huffington Post 12/05/2011. Neal writes that "Cain's candidacy has been shrouded in so much absurdity, that it's hard to see him as anything other than a performance artist." And he gives a good description of the minstrel show aspect of Cain's performance:

Both Obama and Cain's vocal performances are reminders of the role that the voice has played in establishing the "authenticity" of Blackness. One hundred years ago when Black "black-faced" minstrels were in open competition with White "black-faced" minstrels over who were the real "darkies," the tipping point occurred with the development of the phonograph and the "talkies" (motion pictures with sound), and the ability of Black artists -- most prominently Bert Williams -- to approximate Blackness in sound (as opposed to the use of black vernacular language) in ways that were more challenging for White "black-faced" minstrels; Al Jolson simply sounded like he was trying to sound Black.

Despite his "sound of Blackness" Cain had been successful reaching a broader audience than expected, in large part of his deft negotiation of racial nostalgia and racial accommodation -- none which makes him any less Black or so-called self-hating, but simply more willing to work within the constraints of a highly racialized society, on that society's terms. It goes without saying, perhaps, that Cain is a racial throwback.

The oft-cited example of Cain's experiences at Morehouse College in the 1960s, where his father insisted that he "stay out of trouble," in an era when Black college students were indeed starting trouble and changing the world for the better -- even at an institution known today for its marked social conservatism. This admission on Cain's part, no doubt strikes a chord for potential voters who still read President Obama as postmodern Black Power radical, as embodied in the frank racial talk of his life partner Michele Obama during the throes of the 2008 primary season.

That bit of autobiographical positioning on Cain's part was easy; more deliberate -- and complicated -- has been his performance of spirituals, at any number on campaign events. His willingness to take on the role of the minstrel -- the American brand of traveling bards who traveled the country, telling stories of far away lands, and not to be mistaken with the "black-faced" variety, who traveled the land embodying "the other" in Blackness -- has in some way been a stroke of performative genius, no matter how uncomfortable it makes the Black rank-and-file feel.

Cain's troubles around sex and sexual harassment also fit nicely into a negative white stereotype of black men, despite the fact that his defenders like Rush Limbaugh accused liberals of being the ones harboring such stereotypes. Psychological projection plays an outsize role for today's Republicans.

From the conservative fundamentalist camp, we have:

Cal Thomas, We're a Bipolar Country When It Comes to Adultery NewsBusters 12/05/2011. Short version: the country is going to hell in a handbasket because some time around 1969, people started committing adultery.

Wade Burleson, Lessons from Herman Cain: The Blood of Christ Cleanses My Conscience to Serve God 12/06/2011. Short version: Republicans sinners who get caught should perform the proper public rituals of repentance.

Brother Al" Mohler, For Christian Men: The Lessons of Herman Cain 12/05/2011. short version: we like Republican minstrel-show African-American types but they shouldn't get caught with their pants down.

Especially knowing what a chronic mealy-mouther Brother Al is, it's hard not to read his column as how-to advice for ministers and church officials to cover up affairs more effectively.

Tags: al mohler, herman cain

The Herman Cain sexual harassment controversy

I haven't posted on the sexual harassment charges against Herman Cain because there seems to be no clear evidence of the accusations. And whether the underlying story is true should actually matter.

Sexual harassment is a serious problem. Nevertheless, individual cases have to be considered as individual cases. The fact that many businesses understand that for legal reasons they have to take such accusations seriously and investigate them properly is a very good thing. In politics, public accusations of sexual harassment are trickier for the public to judge, especially with the state of our Beltway Village media figures who love such stories and are obviously excited by them.

Cenk Uygur of Current TV's The Young Turks did a good report in this 11/09/2011 segment, Herman Cain Accuser Name Leaked:



Charlotte Observer cartoonist Kevin Siers doesn't seem to be impressed with Cain's explanations in this 11/09/2011 cartoon:

The conventional media and political wisdom on this kind of scandal is that the response is typically more important than the scandalous accusations. Jules Witcover, still one of the best commentators in the business, gives his version of the conventional wisdom in Scandal in Presidential Politics Tribune Media Services 11/04/2011:

In more recent years, the political problem with such "scandals" has not been so much a question of morality as it has been of willful deception. What has harmed politicians caught up in allegations of sexual harassment or abuse has been the attempted cover-up, when candor at the outset may have taken much of the sting out of the accusations.

That was a key lesson of the botched Watergate affair. Richard Nixon was undone not only by the plot to break into the Democratic National Committee and the hush money payoffs to the burglars hired by the Nixon re-election committee. His aggressive efforts to cover up the whole mess was what nailed him in the end.

Nixon may be remembered by many Americans for having blurted out in an appearance at, of all places, Disney World in Florida, "I'm not a crook." And Clinton's dodges -- "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" and "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" -- will live long after him.

In his subsequent column, he takes up the same issue, Sex and Politics Again 11/08/2011.

I'm actually not comfortable with the conventional formulation that the coverup is worse than the scandal. Because what if the allegations were just made up, as most of the Whitewater allegations against Bill Clinton were? And, for that matter, most of the non-Monica sex stories about Clinton? As far as run-of-them-mill adultery with consenting adults goes, I don't think it actually deters most people from voting for their preferred candidate. Gene Lyons wrote of the Whitewater scandal in Fools for Scandal: How the Media Invented Whitewater (1996):

Given literacy levels among the lowest in the United States, what this adds up to is a populist brand of political warfare that often descends to the level of professional wrestling. In a small, largely rural state with only one real city, it also makes for fantastic - and highly entertaining - gossip. Almost everybody, it seems, has a neighbor whose second cousin knows an old boy who worked on the governor's dentist's car, and he says ...

During the 1990 Arkansas gubernatorial primaries, for example, lurid tales of lust and fornication were widely circulated about three of the four serious candidates—both Republicans, and, of course, Governor Bill Clinton. Only Clinton's Democratic opponent, an earnest good-government type perceived to have no chance, escaped suspicion. There was talk of whores, drunken orgies at duck-hunting clubs, illegitimate children, hush money, even suicides. One Arkansas politician was rumored to have had carnal knowledge of a convicted murderess inside her jail cell. Interracial sex, of course, is a topic of perennial interest. Indeed, it takes some effort to think of an Arkansas politician of note about whom scurrilous rumors haven't circulated.

For most Arkansas voters, evaluating this avalanche of smut has always been simple: your candidate is innocent, his or her opponents are probably guilty. The fact that political fault lines here tend to coincide with religious differences - hard-shell denominations to the right, "mainstream" churches to the left - makes it easy to caricature one's enemies as pious hypocrites. Otherwise, it would be tempting to suspect that many Arkansans harbor the secret belief that any politician—or TV evangelist, for that matter - who didn't have some rooster in him couldn't be much of a man.

But who would have dreamed that this stuff could be exported?

But, right or wrong, Witcover is probably also correct in the later column linked above when he suggests that a candidate with whom the electorate is not so familiar may be more vulnerable than ones who are:

... both [Bill] Clinton and Gingrich have had major political experience to justify the credibility each has managed to sustain through their less admirable behavior of the past. Herman Cain lacks a similar record of political accomplishment as he seeks to wade through the current allegations of personal misconduct, heightening the hill he must climb to achieve credibility as potentially the next president.

But even that is not an absolute rule, as Clinton showed in his 1992 campaign when the national public was not yet so familiar with him and he overcame the early Gennifer Flowers accusations.

Still, the sometimes thuggish-sounding responses from Republicans who are supporting Cain on this issue are pretty ugly. And people should pay attention to that aspect of the story, for sure.

Tags: herman cain, sexual harassment

Harshing on Herman Cain

I've quoted Chauncey DeVega a few times on the topic of Herman Cain. If you think DeVega is harsh on the man, check out Anthea Butler in Herman Cain Sings For the Press Religion Dispatches 10/31/2011:

Cain, a member of Antioch Baptist church North in Atlanta, Ga, has mentioned his Christian faith on the campaign trail, and has recorded a gospel album. Cain’s singing of “He looked beyond my faults” [during his National Press Club appearance in October] was, in my opinion, a combination of minstrel show, an Amos and Andy riff without Amos, and a sly admission. By going into entertainment mode with the crowd, Cain tried to both deftly testify to his faith with his Teavangelical base, while at the same time throwing the throngs of reporters off from the trail of the sexual harassment suit. All while confessing that while “others saw his faults, He (Jesus) saw my need.” One wonders what Cain’s faults really are.

I've hesitated to write about #TheHermanCain in part because he honestly irks me. I understand conservative Republican African Americans, but Herman Cain panders to the worst of racial fantasies about the black man who loves whites more than his own life. Cain’s statement at the National Press club—“This many white people can’t pretend they like me”— smacks of buffoonery. A Morehouse man who did not participate in any Civil Rights events during his time at the school in Atlanta in the early 1960s, Cain also blames African Americans for being “brainwashed” by the Democratic party into not being open minded and considering a conservative point of view. Cain also believes the “Planned Parenthood promotes black genocide" line from Maafa 21. Others may disagree, but Cain's arrogant dismissal of anyone who disagrees with him, and his racialized posturing, may be intented to convince his audience that he has transcended race. On the contrary.

Cain’s singing, his effusive happiness that “whites” love him, and his constant so-called joking all remind me of a statue that was placed in Louisiana in 1927 called the "Uncle Jack, the Good Darky.” Designed to honor faithful slaves that kept the plantations while their masters went off to war, the statue has a plaque that says “Erected by the city of Natchitoches in grateful recognition of the arduous and faithful services of the good darkies of Louisiana.” The statue aggravated many blacks, but wasn't put away into storage until the Civil Rights Movement. [my emphasis]

Speaking of Chauncey DeVega, he's still harshing on Herman. For instance, in More Bucking, Shucking, and Jiving: Herman Cain is the Koch Brothers "Brother From Another Mother" WARN 11/04/2011, he catches Cain declaring his familial allegiance to the one-percenter Bircher Koch Brothers:



Tags: 2012 election, herman cain, koch brothers

Herman Cain's troubles and the Republican Party's troubles with Cain

Ryan Lizza calls Herman Cain The Fringe Frontrunner New Yorker 10/31/2011

The Republican Party has a problem. Herman Cain, a man who was living a comfortable life as a motivational speaker but who, like many public figures, harbored fantasies of becoming President, has taken over his party’s nomination process. Cain experts disagree over whether Cain genuinely believes he can and will be President (a minority opinion, though one held by people close to him) or whether the entire enterprise is simply a financial venture to increase his speaking fees gone horribly awry (the majority view).

Either way, Cain represents the emergence of a truly new phenomenon in Presidential politics: the fringe frontrunner.

But this is true not so much in ideology, although Lizza describes it in terms of ideology; Cain's policy preferences don't differ that much from the other non-Papa-Doc-Paul candidates. Lizza writes:

... in addition to the allegations of scandal, Cain has barely thought through his views of the world and has little knowledge of the many issues serious Presidential candidates face. In our strange system for choosing a President, this has not always been a handicap for a fringe candidate. But we are witnessing the next great upheaval in our politics: at a moment when everyone would like simpler answers to a tough set of problems, Republicans are rallying around the Chauncey Gardiner of the G.O.P.

Cain's "fringe" quality is that his role in the Presidential primaries has been as a Republican minstrel show, a "routine that is prefaced on denigrating the intelligence and dignity of African Americans for the glee, approval, and entertainment of white conservatives." (Chauncey DeVega, John McWhorter's Defense of Herman Cain's Race Minstrelsy ... WARN 10/25/2011. DeVega defines "the reason d'etre of race minstrelsy" this way: "The black mask was precisely a fantasy role that validated the fantasies of white supremacy at the expense of African American personhood and humanity."

But it's become a problem for the Republicans that Cain's clown act has become so popular. Charles P. Pierce with his usually pungent style of commentary writes about The Source of Herman Cain's Sexual Harassment Troubles Esquire Politics Blog 10/31/2011:

... the appearance of this story smells extraordinarily of mackerel. Cain becomes the bubble of the week. Almost immediately, Karl Rove dedicates the past two weeks to teeing up Herman Cain on the teevee. And it is not like Rove, to name only the most conspicuous character, is without friends and contacts in the National Restaurant Association. (Some scrolling required.) According to the good folks at the Center For Responsive Politics, we also discover that the National Restaurant Association has retained not only the lobbying firm founded by former Republican National chairman Haley Barbour and former Bush I hired hand Ed Rogers, but also another high-powered lobbying firm, Mehlman, Vogel, and Castignetti, the first two of whom had long careers as Republican congressional aides and operatives before hanging out the shingle. No real surprise, of course, but it does indicate that the Republican establishment — or that which remains of it — has decided that Herman Cain's free ride has ended. It's becoming a bit clearer that the Republican primary process may consist of lashing the party's entire base to a chair and forcing them all to listen to Mitt Romney long enough for the Stockholm Syndrome to take over.

You might argue that someone has acted on principle, that someone thought that the nation needed this information in order to make an informed decision. If that's the case, then why didn't anyone try to strangle the whole campaign in its crib by releasing this a month or two ago? The only way this makes sense is as something that someone kept in their pocket until they needed it. And, in dealing with a party in which Karl Rove is a power, I choose not to believe in coincidence.

I know it's hardly a revelation that Politico does sloppy journalism. But the specifics can be important. And ProPublica's Stephen Engelberg points out how sloppy Poltico's Cain-sexual-harassment story was in Raising Cain: When Is a Scoop Ready to be Published? 10/31/2011:

If the facts as published were part of a memo to Politico’s editors, they would amount to a first-rate tip on a story. If Cain turns out to be a serial harasser, it will surely tarnish his image as the 2012 campaign’s most likable fresh face. ...

But in this case, it remains unclear whether this was merely a great tip or an actual bombshell. I respect Politico’s decision to keep the names of the women out of this, although they will surely emerge. Yet, the basic details of this "harassment" are essential so readers can judge its significance.

Tags: 2012 election, herman cain

Perry and Cain

Columnist Bud Kennedy On GOP debate stage, Rick is no Reagan Fort Worth Star-Telegram 11/11/2011 does some amusing theater criticism of Gov. Goodhair Perry's performance in Tuesday's Presidential debate:

Awkward and often confused, he has become less of a participant in the Republican debates than a comic sidekick doing walk-ons, shouting about how we're "sittin' on a treasure-trove of energy!" and then grinning for applause.

But he does remind us that Perry is still a well-financed contender:

Yet Perry remains the top challenger, said Richard Murray, professor of political policy at the University of Houston.

"He's the only candidate who has the funding," Murray said.

"Cain has no personal money and shows little ability to raise it. So as we move into the primaries, Perry will remain the only realistic alternative [to Romney]."

Speaking of the supposed front-runner for the moment, Steven Thomma of McClatchy Newspapers explains Cain's 9-9-9 plan: Good for the rich, bad for the poor12/12/2011. Like most everything the Republicans support.

Cain proposes to scrap the current tax code and replace it with a flat 9 percent tax on personal income, a second 9 percent tax on corporate income, and a third 9 percent tax on sales. It also would eliminate the payroll tax paid for Medicare and Social Security, the estate tax, and capital gains taxes.

While the Cain campaign has not produced enough details for thorough independent analysis, a flat 9 percent income tax and a 9 percent national sales tax would almost certainly mean higher taxes for at least the 30 million U.S. households that now pay no federal taxes.

And it almost certainly would mean big tax cuts for the wealthy, who now pay a 35 percent marginal rate on their income above $379,150.

Tags: 2012 election, herman cain, rick perry

What if Herman Cain is a serious Republican contender?

Now this is an interesting twist: Kyle Leighton, NBC/WSJ: Herman Cain Leads GOP Field Nationally 10/12/2011.

Are Republicans starting to take Cain's Republican minstrel show more seriously than they ever expected to?

I'm trying not to pay excessive attention to the Republican show at this stage. But it has been bizarre in many ways.

Tags: herman cain, republican party, white racism

Herman Cain and white Republicans (Updated)

Of course, Herman Cain isn't going to be the Presidential nominee of the Christian Republicans White People's Party. He's not a Mormon but he has visible baggage from a Republican point of view that eliminate him as a serious candidate.

Howie at Down with Tyranny writes about the schtick that Cain and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele use to entertain the Party white folks in Financing The Hermanator's Sad Minstrel Show 10/11/2011:

Herman Cain is a well-spoken African American who-- if you'll pardon the offensive expression-- knows his place in the white male Republican Party hierarchy. His jive-ass bull**** is music to the racist ear. In his own autobiography be bragged about how he "moved to the back of the bus" (his own words) during the Civil Rights Movement. That might sound fabulous to ... teabaggers but its nothing to brag about in front of a normal audience. When confronted by Lawrence O'Donnell about it, Cain flat out lied and said he was just in high school, never imagining that O'Donnell had pre-fact checked that and knew Cain was a student at Morehouse College from 1963-1967, the height of the Movement. No matter how hard you fight the impulse, there is virtually no way to listen to Herman Cain without coming to the conclusion that he's a perfect Uncle Tom for the new century.

He quotes Chauncey DeVega's even more astringent takeover of Cain's act at the recent Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) this past February:

Herman Cain’s shtick is a version of race minstrelsy where he performs "authentic negritude" as wish fulfillment for White Conservative fantasies. Like the fountain at Lourdes, Cain in his designated role as black Conservative mascot, absolves the White racial reactionaries at CPAC of their sins. This is a refined performance that Black Conservatives have perfected over many decades and centuries of practice.

Let's consider the routine. First, Cain enters the stage to Motown music. Then Cain feigns swimming after rolling up his sleeves to show them his black skin and how he is a hardworking negro (not like those other ones). Cain bellows in a preacher affected voice and channels the folksy negro down home accent of his late grandpappy. In the money shot, Cain gives the obligatory "black folks who are not Republicans are on the plantation" speech to the joyous applause of his White benefactors. And he doubles down by legitimating any opposition to President Barack Obama as virtuous and patriotic regardless of the bigoted well-springs from which it may flow.

In total, CPAC is a carnival and a roadshow for reactionary Conservatives.

No, that's not exaggeration of today's all-too-typical Republican attitude. DeVega nails it in saying Cain provides "wish fulfillment for White Conservative fantasies" of what a black person should be.

DeVega's comments originally came from this blog post at Alternet Black History Month is Herman Cain Playing the Race Minstrel for CPAC 02/12/2011. He responded to critics in On Chauncey DeVega's Herman Cain Post Alternet 02/15/2011. He blogs regularly at Alternet and at We Are Respectable Negroes.

This is the video of that February CPAC speech. He goes heavily into the I'm-a-proud-black-Republican spiel at around 14:00:



Tags: herman cain, republican party, white racism