The President's Image Was Stolen

They’d like to beat Barack Obama with his own techniques.

If the U.S. presidential election were to be held tomorrow, then the master of the White House ought to start packing his bags. Republicans seem to have found a politician who is strong enough to defeat Barack Obama.

Obama’s opponents did not try to reinvent the wheel. They decided to take advantage of the winning formula used by the Democrats four years ago. As shown by the previous U.S. presidential election, a winning candidate should be someone who until recently was scarcely noticed in frontline political battles (in other words, the public was not tired of him yet), with a non-standard background, a great showman, a great speaker and preferably not white.

Such a politician was found among the Republicans. He’s a black TV host* — Herman Cain. In the past, he was the chairman of an American pizzeria franchise called Godfather’s Pizza, but now he is beating one political popularity record after another. Even Barack Obama during the best years of “Obamamania” could envy his rating curve. While only nine percent of Republicans supported Cain in September, now his supporters make up 25 percent. Meanwhile, he’s only one percent behind the Republican frontrunner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Analysts clarify that there’s a one percent margin of error.

Polls also show that if the election were held tomorrow, Obama would lose to Cain 41 to 43 percent. Romney, on the other hand, would lose to the current U.S. president with the same margin of 41 to 43 percent.

Delving deeper into statistics, it turns out that Cain is 19 percent ahead of Obama among voters who do not belong to either the Democratic or the Republican Party. Another killer fact is also important: The newcomer easily overtakes the incumbent in the “voters-older-than-40” category. And that’s exactly the part of the American society that is the most actively involved in the presidential election. Yes, the majority of young people still prefer Obama. But young people need to be lured to the polls, which is very difficult to accomplish.

The experts have analyzed Cain’s political magnetism and came up with the following. Polls show that voters are terribly tired of candidates who have been in politics for a long time. Also, most poll respondents consider Cain to be the one who will be able to realize his political program and fulfill campaign promises. Finally, the ex-pizza man made it through the “sieve” of debates very successfully. Cain lit up the screen, while his opponents mumbled, explaining their extremely fuzzy platforms.

Cain was born into a poor family. Nevertheless, he had a brilliant career. First, he worked at Burger King. Then, he saved a chain of restaurants called Godfather’s Pizza from bankruptcy. At the same time, he was in charge of the National Restaurant Association. Additionally, he was the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Cain is known as an opponent of Islamic expansion in the U.S. His opponents criticize the Republican hopeful for not being a professional politician, while Cain considers this to be an advantage. He tirelessly repeats that the country does not need a politician but a problem-solver. The basis of Cain’s electoral program is the so-called “9-9-9 Plan”: a qualitative reform of America’s tax system.

*Editor’s Note: Herman Cain hosted a radio talk show in Atlanta, Georgia.