Comments on: Is Herman Cain Prepared To Be President? Is Anyone?

By: Sciagi

Sciagi — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:32:48 +0000

I agree with Mike, I also think Herman Cain is prepared to be a presidential candidate but not a president.

By: Matthew Dickinson

Matthew Dickinson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:14:43 +0000

Mark,

Good analysis. I’m a firm believer that context trumps competence in explaining presidential “effectiveness”, but that doesn’t mean individual factors don’t matter at all. Among these is prior experience – you may be right that a certain type of negotiating background based on dealing with people of “heft and toughness” increases the likelihood that a person will be a more effective president. I wonder, however, whether what we see as a lack of negotiating “toughness” with Obama simply reflects a relative lack of core political ideals with which to guide negotiating choices. Just a thought…

By: Matthew Dickinson

Matthew Dickinson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:08:46 +0000

Are you suggesting that no real American could consider supporting any other candidate. Based on current polling, that suggests roughly 90% of survey respondents do not meet your definition of an American.

By: JohnJohnJr

JohnJohnJr — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:35:08 +0000

The only man running that’s fit to be president is Ron Paul. I could go on, but do your own research, and if you’re an American, I think you’ll agree.

By: Mark Nadel

Mark Nadel — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 15:49:57 +0000

I’m a new reader, and read the Cain piece just after I read some discussion of the importance of experience in presidential success in your earlier post on Drew Westen. That leads me to offer a thought on one component of experience that might refine the analysis. That component is experience in negotiating–not negotiating with a car dealer but negotiating with people of real heft and toughness. It is that element of experience that President Obama totally lacks. As a lawyer, he was a a professor of constitutional law, not a litigator. He was never really a U.S. senator in the sense of pushing the string on serious legislation. Finally, the negotiating he may have done as a community organizer generally involved groups and individuals with an incentive to resolve conflict not generate it. It is Obama’s constant folding in the face of Republican demands that is at the heart of liberal disillusionment, and the lack of negotiation experience may explain the extent that he does fold short of what he could have gotten.

The negotiating aspect may also explain Eisenhower’s success despite lack of experience in national politics. As Supreme Allied Commander, Eisenhower was constantly negotiating with people like Churchill, DeGaulle, and Montgomery. After that, members of Congress were easy to deal with!