Herman Cain in 2011 GOP primary debate in Manchester NH

On Civil Rights: Don't distract army by reinstituting Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell

CAIN: If I had my druthers, I never would have overturned "don't ask/don't tell" in the first place. Now that they have changed it, I wouldn't create a distraction trying to turn it over as president. Our men and women have too many other things to be concerned about rather than have to deal with that as a distraction.

On Government Reform: Yes, federal government should be doing food safety

CAIN: Yes.

Q: You see the E. coli scare that's going on in Europe right now. You're trying to cut money. The FDA, other agencies that get involved in that are in front of you. What do you do?

CAIN: You look inside the FDA and determine whether or not it needs to be streamlined, and maybe it does.

Q: But should the federal government be doing food safety inspections?

CAIN: The federal government should be doing food safety, yes.

On Government Reform: Government shouldn't pick winners & losers

PAUL: There shouldn't be any government assistance to private enterprise. It's not morally correct; it's illegal; it's ba economics.

Q: Mr. Cain, you initially supported the TARP program?

CAIN: I studied the financial meltdown and concluded on my own that we needed to do something drastic, yes. When the concept of TARP was first presented to the public, I was willing to go along with it. But then when the administration started to implement it on a discretionary basis, picking winners and losers and also directing funds to General Motors and others that had nothing to do with the financial system, that's where I totally disagreed. The government should not be selecting winners and losers, and I don't believe in this concept of too big to fail. If they fail, the free market will figure out who's going to pick up the pieces.

On Jobs: Economy is stalled like a train with no engine & no fuel

A: The thing we need to do is to get this economy boosted. This economy is stalled. It's like a train on the tracks with no engine. And the administration has simply been putting all of this money in th caboose. We need an engine called the private sector. That means lower taxes. Uncertainty is killing this economy. This is the only way we're going to get this economy moving, and that's to put the right fuel in the engine, which is the private sector.

On Jobs: I believe in right-to-work laws

PAWLENTY: People shouldn't be forced be a member in any organization. And the government has no business telling you what group to be a member of or not.

GINGRICH: I hope that N.H. does adopt right-to-work. I'd keep it at the state level because as each new state becomes right to work, they send a signal to the remaining states.

CAIN: I do believe that the states should have the right. I believe in right-to-work, and I hope that N.H. is able to get it passed. And I agree with the speaker and the others who believe that if the federal government continues to do the kinds of thing that this administration is trying to do through the back door, through the National Labor Relations Board, that's killing our free market system, which made this economy great. And we have to keep the free market system strong.

On Principles & Values: Focus on the Three E's: economy, entitlements, and energy

On Principles & Values: American laws in American courts, not Shariah

A: First, the statement was would I be COMFORTABLE with a Muslim in my administration, not that I wouldn't appoint one. I would not be comfortable because you have peaceful Muslims and then you have militant Muslims, those that are trying to kill us. And so, when I said I wouldn't be comfortable, I was thinking about the ones that are trying to kil us. Second, yes, I do not believe in Sharia law in American courts. I believe in American laws in American courts, period.

Q: So, a purity test or a loyalty test? Ask a Muslim a few questions that you wouldn't ask of a Christian or Jew?

CAIN: Sorry. No, you are restating something I did not say, When you interview a person for a job, you are able to get a feeling for how committed that person is to the Constitution, in order for them to work effectively in the administration.

On Social Security: Phase out of system with personal retirement plans at age 40

CAIN: Let's restructure Social Security. I support a personal retirement account option in order to phase out the current system. We know that this works. It worked in the small country of Chile when they did it 30 years. I believe we can do the same thing.

Q: Are you going to raise the retirement age as president?

CAIN: I don't have to raise the retirement age, because that b itself isn't going to solve the problem. If Congress decides to do that, that's a different matter. Let me give you one another example where this approach has worked. The city of Galveston, they opted out of the Social Security system way back in the '70s. And now, they retire with a whole lot more money. Why? For a real simple reason--they have an account with their money on it. We've got to restructure the program using a personal retirement account option in order to eventually make it solvent