They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain: on Principles & Values
Clarence Thomas:
Due to Black church, Black conservatives no longer outliers
Due to the influence of the Black churches, the political views of most Blacks are more conservative than they realize. Studies show that most Blacks are opposed to same-sex marriage, are eager to curtail the high Black abortion rate, and anxious to
reform the big economic issues that have a disproportionately negative effect on Blacks. Conservative values and ideologies on social and fiscal issues are a natural home for Blacks. Blacks can no longer look at conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarenc
Thomas as an outlier or aberration. In the recent past we have seen the rise of many successful conservative Blacks, such as Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele, and scores of others throughout the business world and
state and local politics. The common denominator of all the aforementioned great Black Americans is that they think for themselves. That's the result of knowing the facts and understanding the history of the political parties.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p. 43
Jun 14, 2005
George W. Bush:
2004: received most votes ever cast for president
President George W. Bush made history in the 2004 presidential race by receiving the most votes ever cast for a presidential candidate. Not since President Reagan's 1984 victory, which set the record for the most electoral votes won in a presidential
election, has a candidate won such a clear majority of the states in the South and the West. The 2004 elections were significant for a number of reasons. First, the majority of the voters stated that they based their presidential vote on moral issues,
which include opposition to same-sex marriage initiatives and partial-birth abortion.
Second, President Bush received a majority of the vote among Catholic and Protestant voters and increased the percentage of support among a number of other
demographic groups, including members of racial minorities and voters who live in urban areas.
Third, the U.S. electorate sent to Congress a "working majority" of Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p. 61-62
Jun 14, 2005
Herman Cain:
US polarized: party divide; racial divide; economic divide
The polarizing labels and phrases used by our political leaders and elected officials have created three profound divisions throughout our country. I call these the party divide, racial divide, and the economic divide.
The party divide is represented by the extreme partisanship that exists between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country. The second great divide in our country is the racial divide.
Race is often abused by candidates and so-called Black leaders to keep voters neatly on their respective plantations. The third great divide in our country is the economic divide. Economics starts with education.
The long struggle to achieve equal opportunities for success in nearly all facets of our society has resulted in great progress for all citizens.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p. 53
Jun 14, 2005
Herman Cain:
Religious faith & political views inextricably intertwined
We live in a nation where most people have conservative social and economic values and where most people try to live their lives according to the morals and values taught to them in church and by their parents. The majority of the public does not support
removing the words "one nation under God" from our Pledge of Allegiance. They do not support removing the words "in God we trust" from our currency. They do not support presidents who carry on extra-marital affairs with interns in the Oval Office of the
White House. Democrats simply cannot understand why most people involve their faith in making the big decisions in their lives. They cannot understand why people do not and cannot switch their faith on and off because of a notion of "separation
between church and state"--a phrase that does not even appear in our Constitution! For most people, their religious faith, their personal and business lives, and their political views are inextricably intertwined.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p. 75
Jun 14, 2005
Herman Cain:
2004: Won second place in US Senate Republican primary
When I ran as a conservative Black Republican in the 2004 election for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, the party faithful considered me as an outsider because I had not asked permission from the Republican Party leaders in Georgia, nor had
I ever sought any elective office before. I won an impressive second place in the Republican Primary. It is this experience that has made me aware of the rising tide of the politically homeless. Democratic
Party insiders are nearing political bankruptcy. I have seen how many Democratic candidates distort, ignore, and even change the facts to try to get elected. Although Republicans are not innocent in this regard, their political capital is on the rise.
In fact, my own party has a unique opportunity to dominate the political landscape for decades if they do a better job of reaching out to the party outsiders with results, rather than waiting for outsiders to reach in.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p. xv-xvi
Jun 14, 2005
Herman Cain:
1986: As CEO, refocused Godfather's Pizza on brand identity
When I became CEO of Godfather's Pizza in 1986, it was a failing company. Our sales were declining & company moral was declining. Employees no longer knew the Godfather's mission. My #1 task was to get everyone to realize that we had a brand identity
crisis. Our management team had forgotten, and our customer base had forgotten, that Godfather's made the best-tasting pizza. Why? Because we gradually stopped making the best-tasting pizza. As a result, we lost customers, we lost profitability, and we
were losing our company. Strong messages are not enough, though, to create a strong positive brand identity. The messages must be credible. There must be substance underlying the message. At Godfather's we decided to have one goal-make the best-tasting
pizza. To achieve this goal we had to eliminate a lot of barriers that prevented us from achieving this goal. It's called focus. The Republicans have started to drift in that direction by losing their focus on fiscal responsibility.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p.105-106
Jun 14, 2005
Herman Cain:
2004 decision to run for US Senate was divinely inspired
If you do not believe in God, you will not believe this chapter. I believe that my decision to run for the US Senate was divinely inspired. Indeed, this has been the case for every major career decision I have made in my life.In May 2003, a fellow
conservative suggested that I run for retiring Sen. Zell Miller's seat, so I prayed a lot about the idea. As I picked up my Bible, it slipped & fell open on the floor. I picked it up and noticed it was open to the book of Mark's 8th chapter. I stopped in
my spiritual tracks: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? This was not the first time I had read this verse, but it was the first time it seemed to jump off the page at me. It made me think about giving
back more since I had been so blessed. At church the following Sunday, our pastor, preached a sermon titled "A Calling." He described a calling as "the intersection of your talents and human needs." I knew it was God trying to tell me something.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p.185&198-199
Jun 14, 2005
John F. Kennedy:
1961: Ask not what your country can do for you
[Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address]: In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it.
I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.
The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow
Americans: ask not what your country can do for you00ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p.154
Jun 14, 2005
Ronald Reagan:
Most concerned for special interest group, "We the People"
[Reagan's 1981 Inaugural Speech]: We hear much of special interest groups. Well, our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries, or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political
party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we're sick--professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, and truck drivers. They are, in
short, "We the People." This breed called Americans. The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to
believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together with God's help we can and will resolve the problems that now confront us. And after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans.
Source: They Think You're Stupid, by Herman Cain, p.155-156
Jun 14, 2005
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