Did Herman Cain just put the final nail in the coffin of his candidacy?
Over the weekend, the Republican presidential candidate said if he were elected, he would not appoint a Muslim to his cabinet. That comment came in conjunction with his earlier disapproval of the building of a Muslim mosque in Tennessee.
The problem with Cain’s comments, aside from the obvious fact that they were so unabashedly bigoted, is that many Republicans were actually willing to give him and his odd remarks a free pass. But just because Cain is black doesn’t mean he can’t also be a bigot.
Imagine if a presidential candidate of any party were to say they would not appoint a Jew, or a Mormon, or, God forbid, a Catholic to their cabinet. All hell would break loose and that candidate would be shunned into oblivion. But Herman Cain is currently polling in double-digits among Republican candidates, despite the fact he’s never run for public office before. Not even local dog catcher!
Since this happens to be Cain’s first time at the rodeo, perhaps no one told him that in America, freedom of religion just happens to be protected by this interesting little document we call the United States Constitution. So for him to be seeking the office of President of the United States, a position that will require he take an oath to preserve, protect and defend that very constitution — let’s just say his words now don’t necessarily gel with the words he would have to utter should he be inaugurated.
Since Cain’s bigoted words against Muslims went viral, his GOP friends have all suddenly come down with a surprise case of laryngitis — or a fear to say anything in support of a man who may have just ended it all.
Can Cain really continue as a legitimate candidate with such an illegitimate position against a religious group?
<span>Unless he's done it AGAIN(?), Cain first made this comment during a ThinkProgress interview back in March or April of this year. It set off such a firestorm (naturally) that by May the man was on Faux News backpeddling (kinda sorta), claiming his words had been "misconstrued"..!?! However, more recently he's made lots more bigoted, inflamatory and reckless comments. For example: He recently expressed…"in America, communties have the *Right* to ban Mosques." And he's also stated that if he's elected President he would "attack Iran to protect Israel" if Iran tries to "mess with" Israel. Has he "put the final nail in the coffin of his candidacy" with any of these comments? </span><span></span><span>All indications are: Nope. Not among radical right-wingers anyway. As you pointed out DJ: Cain continues to poll in the double-digits among that crowd. I believe he's 3rd behind Bachmann and Romney. Will he win the GOP nomination for President? No. But for now, his candidacy appears to still be ALIVE and kicking. For how much longer? We shall see.</span>… Read more »