Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, and Presidential Qualifications
Muny Dews Blog ^ | December, 2010 | Muny Dews
Posted on Wednesday, December 29, 2010 1:59:37 PM by Brookhaven
I have heard that Herman Cain is mulling over a run for the presidency. I know him from a local radio station, and while there are few things I disagree with Herman Cain on when it comes to politics, I did pause and wonder if a radio host would be qualified to be president. I also wondered, what makes someone qualified to be president? Why is someone like Mitt Romney (the consensus front runner for the GOP nomination) universally accepted as being qualified? So, I did a comparison between Mitt Romney and Herman Cain.
Childhood and Family Background
Mitt Romney
Romney was raised in an upper class family. His father, George W. Romney, was chairman of American Motors, governor of Michigan, and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Richard Nixon. He ran for president in 1968. Romney attended Cranbrook School, an elite private boarding school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Herman Cain
Cain was raised in a lower class family. His father was the child of a Tennessee farmer and moved to Atlanta in 1943 at the age of 18 with, as Cain descries it, “literally just the clothes on his back..” Cain's father worked multiple jobs (chauffeur, barber, janitor) to make ends, and Cain's mother worked as a maid. Herman Cain attended public school.
Comparison
In this area, Romney and Cain couldn't be more different, but does it matter? We've had children of the rich and powerful that have become president, and we've had children of the underprivileged become president. Based on their backgrounds, both seem equally qualified.
Education
Mitt Romney
Bachelors in English - Brigham Young University
Masters in Business - Harvard
JD (law degree) - Harvard Law School
Herman Cain
Bachelors in Mathematics - Morehouse College
Masters in Computer Science - Purdue University
Comparison
Both men are well educated. Romney's education does come closer to the stereotype of “lawyers as politicians,” but like a lot of stereotypes it isn't true. Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Lyndon Johnson had no more than a bachelor's degree, and their majors were physics, government, economics (Bush & Reagan), and education. Based on their education, both Romney and Cain are qualified to be president.
Work Experience
Mitt Romney
Joined Boston Consulting Group upon graduation from college, and worked as a consultant to multiple businesses. In 1977 joined consulting group Bain & Company where he continued his career as a management consultant.
In 1984 was chosen to head up Bain & Company spin-off Bain Capital, an investment firm that specialized in leveraged buyouts.
He was president of Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002.
Herman Cain
He worked as a mathematician for the Navy, a business analyst for Coca-Cola, and VP of corporate systems and services (information technology) for Pillsbury.
Cain changed careers in mid-life and moved to Pillsbury's restaurant division (Burger King). Managed 400 restaurants, then became chairman of the Godfather's Pizza chain.
He served on the board of the National Restaurant Association in 1994-1995, and was the the association's president in 1996.
Herman Cain was the Chairman of The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1995 to 1996.
Herman Cain has served on the board of directors of Nabisco, Creighton University, SuperValu, UtiliCorp United, AGCO, The Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Morehouse College, Whirlpool, Hallmark, Aquila, and The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Recently has hosted radio program on WSB in Atlanta.
Comparison
Both men have impressive business backgrounds. You could make the argument that Herman Cain is more qualified in this area, given the diversity of positions he has held, but the bottom line is both men are more qualified in this area than 95% of recent presidential candidates.
Writings
Mitt Romney
2004 - Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games
2010 - No Apology: The Case for American Greatness
Herman Cain
1999 - Speak as a Leader
2000 - Leadership is Common Sense
2001 – CEO of Self: You Are in Charge
2005 - They Think You're Stupid: Why Democrats Lost Your Vote and What Republicans Must Do to Keep It
Comparison
Both men have written books that have been well reviewed. If book authorship was a criteria for running for president, Herman Cain would certainly be as qualified as Mitt Romney.
Elected Political Office
Mitt Romney
1994 - Ran for US Senate in Mass. Lost to Ted Kennedy receiving 41% of vote).
2002 - Elected Governor of Mass. (49% of vote). Served one 4 year term.
2008 - Ran for president. Received 22% of votes in GOP primary.
Herman Cain
2004 - Ran for US Senate in GA. Received 26% of vote in GOP primary.
Comparison
Here is a clear cut difference between the two men. Mitt Romney has held elected office, and Herman Cain hasn't. But does that make Romney qualified to be president and Herman Cain unqualified? Two facts would argue against coming to that conclusion.
Firstly, several presidents never held elected office prior to being elected president. Eisenhower, Hoover, Taft, Grant, Taylor, and Washington never held elected office prior to taking the presidential oath of office.
Secondly, from a conservative perspective, Mitt Romney's stint as Governor of Massachusetts was a disaster. Numerous conservatives have pointed to Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts as proof that he is unqualified to be president.
1. Romney signed state health care into law (RomneyCare, the model for ObamaCare).
2. Romney raised taxes by $740 million. Now there is a lot of spin surrounding this, with claims that these were not tax increases, but rather fees and closed loopholes. Instead of getting into pointless arguments over semantics, we'll just use a phrase that covers everything: forked-over. There is no arguing that as Governor, Romney caused the people and businesses of Massachusetts to fork-over to the state an additional $740 million.
3. During Romney's term as governor (a period when the rest of the country was experiencing significant economic growth) the economy of Massachusetts shrunk. As the Boston Globe put it: "We were one of only two states to have experienced no growth in its resident labor force. Again, without the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on the dispersal of the Louisiana population, Massachusetts would have ranked last on this measure."
4. As governor, Romney failed as a leader. Again, quoting the Boston Globe: "Real world experience has shown that a governor is limited in his power to influence the course of economic development in a state. A full-time governor who is deeply committed to the economic well-being of a state's workers can, however, make some difference. The state unfortunately did not receive such leadership over most of the past four years."
5. Romney failed to build public support within the state for conservative ideas while in office. Rather than run for reelection, Romney had to leave office after only one term because of a mere 30% approval rating from voters.
To be fair, Mitt Romney has said being governor taught him much, and there is no doubt that Romney's political positions have become significantly more conservative since that time. In fact, his political positions changed so much that the are now very close to Herman Cain's. Which brings up an interesting question: if the main benefit Romney received from his experience as governor was to make him more like Herman Cain, why would this experience make him any more qualified to be president than Herman Cain?
When you consider that several presidents never held previous elected office, and the main benefit of holding office on Mitt Romney was to make him more like Herman Cain, you can't hold out Romney's single term as governor and Cain's lack of elected office experience as a reason that Romney is more qualified to be president than Herman Cain.
Conclusion
I started out asking a simple question: if Mitt Romney is universally acknowledged to be qualified to be president, why isn't Herman Cain? After examining their lives as a whole, I've come to the conclusion that if you consider Mitt Romney qualified to be president, you would also have to grant that Herman Cain is qualified to be president.
Of course, if after examining the evidence you still don't believe Herman Cain is qualified to be president, then you would have to also conclude that Mitt Romney is not qualified to be president. The only significant difference in their resumes is Romney's four year stint as governor of Massachusetts—a governorship that was, from a conservative perspective, an absolute disaster. Mitt Romney was not a success as governor, and it would be pure spin to say otherwise.
Herman Cain and Mitt Romney, two candidates with qualifications that so closely track each other that you can't declare one qualified to be president, without declaring the other to be qualified. Conversely, if one is unqualified, then logically they are both unqualified. Their backgrounds parallel each other too closely to come to any other conclusion.
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